A comparative study of plant volatiles induced by insect and gastropod herbivory (original) (raw)
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Plant volatiles as a defense against insect herbivores
Plant Physiology, 1999
Leaves normally release small quantities of volatile chemicals, but when a plant is damaged by herbivorous insects, many more volatiles are released. The chemical identity of the volatile compounds varies with the plant species and with the herbivorous insect species. These volatiles attract both parasitic and predatory insects that are natural enemies of the herbivores. They may also induce defense responses in neighboring plants. Such chemicals, which function in communication between and among species, as well as those that serve as messengers between members of the same species, are called semiochemicals (from the Greek "semeion," a mark or signal) .
Herbivore induced plant volatiles: Their role in plant defense for pest management
Plant Signaling & Behavior, 2011
Plants respond to herbivory through different defensive mechanisms. The induction of volatile emission is one of the important and immediate response of plants to herbivory. Herbivore-induced plant volatiles (HIPVs) are involved in plant communication with natural enemies of the insect herbivores, neighboring plants, and different parts of the damaged plant. Release of a wide variety of HIPVs in response to herbivore damage and their role in plant-plant, plant-carnivore and intraplant communications represents a new facet of the complex interactions among different trophic levels. HIPVs are released from leaves, flowers and fruits into the atmosphere or into the soil from the roots in response to herbivore attack. Moreover, HIPVs act as feeding and/or oviposition deterrents to insect pests. HIPVs also mediate the interactions between the plants and the microorganisms. This review presents an overview of HIPVs emitted by plants, their role in plant defense against herbivores and their implications for pest management.
Plant Volatiles Induced by Herbivore Egg Deposition Affect Insects of Different Trophic Levels
PLoS ONE, 2012
Plants release volatiles induced by herbivore feeding that may affect the diversity and composition of plant-associated arthropod communities. However, the specificity and role of plant volatiles induced during the early phase of attack, i.e. egg deposition by herbivorous insects, and their consequences on insects of different trophic levels remain poorly explored. In olfactometer and wind tunnel setups , we investigated behavioural responses of a specialist cabbage butterfly (Pieris brassicae) and two of its parasitic wasps (Trichogramma brassicae and Cotesia glomerata) to volatiles of a wild crucifer (Brassica nigra) induced by oviposition of the specialist butterfly and an additional generalist moth (Mamestra brassicae). Gravid butterflies were repelled by volatiles from plants induced by cabbage white butterfly eggs, probably as a means of avoiding competition, whereas both parasitic wasp species were attracted. In contrast, volatiles from plants induced by eggs of the generalist moth did neither repel nor attract any of the tested community members. Analysis of the plant's volatile metabolomic profile by gas chromatography-mass spectrometry and the structure of the plant-egg interface by scanning electron microscopy confirmed that the plant responds differently to egg deposition by the two lepidopteran species. Our findings imply that prior to actual feeding damage, egg deposition can induce specific plant responses that significantly influence various members of higher trophic levels.
Phytochemistry, 2011
Plants are faced with a trade-off between on the one hand growth, development and reproduction and on the other hand defence against environmental stresses. Yet, research on insect-plant interactions has addressed plant-pollinator interactions and plant-attacker interactions separately. Plants have evolved a high diversity of constitutive and induced responses to attack, including the systemic emission of herbivore-induced plant volatiles (HIPVs). The effect of HIPVs on the behaviour of carnivorous insects has received ample attention for leaf-feeding (folivorous) species and their parasitoids and predators. Here, we review whether and to what extent HIPVs affect the interaction of plants in the flowering stage with mutualistic and antagonistic insects. Whereas the role of flower volatiles in the interactions between plants and insect pollinators has received increased attention over the last decade, studies addressing both HIPVs and pollinator behaviour are rare, despite the fact that in a number of plant species herbivory is known to affect flower traits, including size, nectar secretion and composition. In addition, folivory and florivory can also result in significant changes in flower volatile emission and in most systems investigated, pollinator visitation decreased, although exceptions have been found. Negative effects of HIPVs on pollinator visitation rates likely exert negative selection pressure on HIPV emission. The systemic nature of herbivore-induced plant responses and the behavioural responses of antagonistic and mutualistic insects, requires the study of volatile emission of entire plants in the flowering stage. We conclude that approaches to integrate the study of plant defences and pollination are essential to advance plant biology, in particular in the context of the trade-off between defence and growth/reproduction.
Multitrophic effects of herbivore-induced plant volatiles in an evolutionary context
Entomologia Experimentalis et Applicata, 2000
Herbivorous and carnivorous arthropods use plant volatiles when foraging for food. In response to herbivory, plants emit a blend that may be quantitatively and qualitatively different from the blend emitted when intact. This induced volatile blend alters the interactions of the plant with its environment. We review recent developments regarding the induction mechanism as well as the ecological consequences in a multitrophic and evolutionary context. It has been well established that carnivores (predators and parasitoids) are attracted by the volatiles induced by their herbivorous victims. This concerns an active plant response. In the case of attraction of predators, this is likely to result in a fitness benefit to the plant, because through consumption a predator removes the herbivores from the plant. However, the benefit to the plant is less clear when parasitoids are attracted, because parasitisation does usually not result in an instantaneous or in a complete termination of consumption by the herbivore. Recently, empirical evidence has been obtained that shows that the plant's response can increase plant fitness, in terms of seed production, due to a reduced consumption rate of parasitized herbivores. However, apart from a benefit from attracting carnivores, the induced volatiles can have a serious cost because there is an increasing number of studies that show that herbivores can be attracted. However, this does not necessarily result in settlement of the herbivores on the emitting plant. The presence of cues from herbivores and/or carnivores that indicate that the plant is a competitor-and/or enemy-dense space, may lead to an avoidance response. Thus, the benefit of emission of induced volatiles is likely to depend on the prevailing faunal composition. Whether plants can adjust their response and influence the emission of the induced volatiles, taking the prevalent environmental conditions into account, is an interesting question that needs to be addressed. The induced volatiles may also affect interactions of the emitting plant with its neighbours, e.g., through altered competitive ability or by the neighbour exploiting the emitted information.
Current Opinion in Insect Science, 2015
Herbivore-induced plant volatiles (HIPV) have been shown to convey ecologically relevant information to other organisms, including carnivorous and herbivorous arthropods and neighboring plants. However, many questions about the evolutionary and ecological functions of HIPV remain unanswered. In particular, a current lack of information about the ways in which environmental factors-including habitat structure and atmospheric conditions-influence HIPV mediated interactions in real-world settings limits our ability to anticipate the ways in which HIPV-mediated ecological interactions may be altered or disrupted by anthropogenic environmental change, including atmospheric pollution and climate change. Understanding these influences thus has significant implications for the sustainable management of natural and agricultural ecosystems and should be a priority for future research.
Herbivore-Induced Plant Volatiles Mediate In-Flight Host Discrimination by Parasitoids
Journal of Chemical Ecology, 2005
Herbivore feeding induces plants to emit volatiles that are detectable and reliable cues for foraging parasitoids, which allows them to perform oriented host searching. We investigated whether these plant volatiles play a role in avoiding parasitoid competition by discriminating parasitized from unparasitized hosts in flight. In a wind tunnel set-up, we used mechanically damaged plants treated with regurgitant containing elicitors to simulate and standardize herbivore feeding. The solitary parasitoid Cotesia rubecula discriminated among volatile blends from Brussels sprouts plants treated with regurgitant of unparasitized Pieris rapae or P. brassicae caterpillars over blends emitted by plants treated with regurgitant of parasitized caterpillars. The gregarious Cotesia glomerata discriminated between volatiles induced by regurgitant from parasitized and unparasitized caterpillars of its major host species, P. brassicae. Gas chromatography-mass spectrometry analysis of headspace odors revealed that cabbage plants treated with regurgitant of parasitized P. brassicae caterpillars emitted lower amounts of volatiles than plants treated with unparasitized caterpillars. We demonstrate (1) that parasitoids can detect, in flight, whether their hosts contain competitors, and (2) that plants reduce the production of specific herbivoreinduced volatiles after a successful recruitment of their bodyguards. As the induced volatiles bear biosynthetic and ecological costs to plants, downregulation of their production has adaptive value. These findings add a new level of intricacy to plantYparasitoid interactions.