The Efficiency of Plant Defense: Aphid Pest Pressure Does Not Alter Production of Food Rewards by Okra Plants in Ant Presence

Autor(en)
Akanksha Singh, Veronika Mayer, Sharon E. Zytynska, Benjamin Hesse, Wolfgang W. Weisser
Abstrakt

Pearl bodies are produced by some plant species as food reward for ants and in exchange, ants defend these plants against insect pests. Sap-sucking pests such as aphids also excrete honeydew as food reward for ants, leading to potential conflict where ants could preferentially defend either the plant or the aphid. How pest insects might influence plant pearl body production, is yet to be investigated. Okra is a widely consumed vegetable worldwide and is attacked by the ant-tended cotton aphid. The plants produce pearl bodies, which are predominantly found on the underside of the leaves and formed from epidermal cells. We conducted a set of field and greenhouse experiments to explore plant-aphid-ant interactions, their influence on pearl body production and resulting performance of okra plants, across okra varieties. We found that ants of Pheidole genus, which are dominant in okra fields, preferred pearl bodies over aphid honeydew; although, their highest abundance was recorded in presence of both these food rewards, and on one okra variety. Removal of pearl bodies from the plants increased their production; however, plant growth and chlorophyll content were negatively associated with pearl body replenishment. Potentially to mitigate this resource cost, plants developed such a novel defense response because we found that aphid presence reduced pearl body production, but only when there were no ants. Finally, aphids negatively affected plant performance, but only at very high densities. As aphids also attract ants, plants may tolerate their presence at low densities to attract higher ant abundances. Our study highlights that plants can adapt their defense strategies in pest presence for efficient resource use. We suggest that understanding pearl body associated interactions in crop plants can assist in using such traits for pest management.

Organisation(en)
Department für Botanik und Biodiversitätsforschung
Externe Organisation(en)
Technische Universität München
Journal
Frontiers in Plant Science
Band
12
Seiten
1-13
Anzahl der Seiten
13
ISSN
1664-462X
DOI
https://doi.org/10.3389/fpls.2021.627570
Publikationsdatum
03-2021
Peer-reviewed
Ja
ÖFOS 2012
106008 Botanik, 106012 Evolutionsforschung, 106042 Systematische Botanik
Schlagwörter
ASJC Scopus Sachgebiete
Plant Science
Sustainable Development Goals
SDG 12 – Nachhaltige/r Konsum und Produktion
Link zum Portal
https://ucris.univie.ac.at/portal/de/publications/the-efficiency-of-plant-defense-aphid-pest-pressure-does-not-alter-production-of-food-rewards-by-okra-plants-in-ant-presence(018a4878-7029-4d29-859c-a135f6eeeb84).html