Behavior and fitness are important ecological traits frequently measured in insect bioassays.A common method to measure them in soft-bodied herbivorous insects involves confining individuals to plant leaves using clip...Behavior and fitness are important ecological traits frequently measured in insect bioassays.A common method to measure them in soft-bodied herbivorous insects involves confining individuals to plant leaves using clip cages.Although studies have pre-viously highlighted the negative effects of clip cages on leaf physiology,little is known about the impact that using this confinement method has on insect fitness.The responses of different aphid genotypes/clones to different containment methods have not previously been investigated.Here we measured key fitness traits(intrinsic rate of natural increase,mean relative growth rate,time to reach reproductive adulthood and population doubling time)in the potato aphid,Macrosiphum euphorbiae Thomas(Hemiptera:Aphididae),when confined to plants using two methods:(1)clip cages to confine aphids to individual strawberry leaves and(2)a mesh bag to confine aphids to whole strawberry plants.Our study identified a strong negative impact on all the measured aphid fitness traits when using clip cages instead of mesh bags.We also identified genotype-specific differences in response to confinement method,where clip cage confinement differentially affected the fitness of a given aphid genotype compared to the same genotype on whole plants.These results suggest that clip cage use should be carefully considered when experiments seek to quantify insect fitness and that whole plants should be used wherever possible.Given the prevalence of clip cage use in insect bioassays,our results highlight the need for cau-tion when interpreting the existing literature as confinement method significantly impacts aphid fitness depending on their genotype.展开更多
Bacterial endosymbionts have enabled aphids to adapt to a range of stressors,but their effects in many aphid species remain to be established.The bird cherry-oat aphid,Rhopalosiphum padi(Linnaeus),is an important pest...Bacterial endosymbionts have enabled aphids to adapt to a range of stressors,but their effects in many aphid species remain to be established.The bird cherry-oat aphid,Rhopalosiphum padi(Linnaeus),is an important pest of cereals worldwide and has been reported to form symbiotic associations with Serratia symbiotica and Sitobion miscanthi L-type symbiont endobacteria,although the resulting aphid phenotype has not been described.This study presents the first report of R.padi infection with the facultative bacterial endosymbiont Hamiltonella defensa.Individuals of R.padi were sampled from populations in Eastern Scotland,UK,and shown to represent seven R.padi genotypes based on the size of polymorphic microsatellite markers;two of these genotypes harbored H.defensa.In parasitism assays,survival of H.defensa-infected nymphs following attack by the parasitoid wasp Aphidius colemani(Viereck)was 5 fold higher than for uninfected nymphs.Aphid genotype was a major determinant of aphid performance on two Hordeum species,a modern cultivar of barley H.vulgare and a wild relative H.spontaneum,although aphids infected with H.defensa showed 16%lower nymph mass gain on the partially resistant wild relative compared with uninfected individuals.These findings suggest that deploying resistance traits in barley will favor the fittest R.padi genotypes,but symbiontinfected individuals will be favored when parasitoids are abundant,although these aphids will not achieve optimal performance on a poor quality host plant.展开更多
To achieve the triple challenge of food security,reversing biodiversity declines plus mitigating and adapting to climate change,there is a drive to embed ecological principles into agricultural,value-chain practices a...To achieve the triple challenge of food security,reversing biodiversity declines plus mitigating and adapting to climate change,there is a drive to embed ecological principles into agricultural,value-chain practices and decisionmaking.By diversifying cropping systems at several scales there is potential to decrease reliance on inputs,provide resilience to abiotic and biotic stress,enhance plant,microbe and animal biodiversity,and mitigate against climate change.In this review we highlight the research performed in Scotland over the past 5 years into the impact of the use of ecological principles in agriculture on sustainability,resilience and provision of ecosystem functions.We demonstrate that diversification of the system can enhance ecosystem functions.Soil and plant management interventions,including nature-based solutions,can also enhance soil quality and utilization of legacy nutrients.Additionally,this is facilitated by greater reliance on soil biological processes and trophic interactions.We highlight the example of intercropping with legumes to deliver sustainability through ecological principles and use legumes as an exemplar of the innovation.We conclude that there are many effective interventions that can be made to deliver resilient,sustainable,and diverse agroecosystems for crop and food production,and these may be applicable in any agroecosystem.展开更多
基金The authors would like to thank the Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council and the Fruit Crop Science CTP for funding this projectthe Rural and Environment Science and Analytical Services(RESAS)Division of the Scottish Government through the Strategic Research Programme(2022-2027)+2 种基金the Underpinning National Capacity programme(Service 8.2 Maintenance of pest collections)for supporting the project through the James Hutton InstituteGaynor Malloch at the James Hutton Institute and Danielle Henderson-Holdings at Harper Adams University for their support with molecular workDr Edwin Harris at Harper Adams University for his support with data analysis.
文摘Behavior and fitness are important ecological traits frequently measured in insect bioassays.A common method to measure them in soft-bodied herbivorous insects involves confining individuals to plant leaves using clip cages.Although studies have pre-viously highlighted the negative effects of clip cages on leaf physiology,little is known about the impact that using this confinement method has on insect fitness.The responses of different aphid genotypes/clones to different containment methods have not previously been investigated.Here we measured key fitness traits(intrinsic rate of natural increase,mean relative growth rate,time to reach reproductive adulthood and population doubling time)in the potato aphid,Macrosiphum euphorbiae Thomas(Hemiptera:Aphididae),when confined to plants using two methods:(1)clip cages to confine aphids to individual strawberry leaves and(2)a mesh bag to confine aphids to whole strawberry plants.Our study identified a strong negative impact on all the measured aphid fitness traits when using clip cages instead of mesh bags.We also identified genotype-specific differences in response to confinement method,where clip cage confinement differentially affected the fitness of a given aphid genotype compared to the same genotype on whole plants.These results suggest that clip cage use should be carefully considered when experiments seek to quantify insect fitness and that whole plants should be used wherever possible.Given the prevalence of clip cage use in insect bioassays,our results highlight the need for cau-tion when interpreting the existing literature as confinement method significantly impacts aphid fitness depending on their genotype.
文摘Bacterial endosymbionts have enabled aphids to adapt to a range of stressors,but their effects in many aphid species remain to be established.The bird cherry-oat aphid,Rhopalosiphum padi(Linnaeus),is an important pest of cereals worldwide and has been reported to form symbiotic associations with Serratia symbiotica and Sitobion miscanthi L-type symbiont endobacteria,although the resulting aphid phenotype has not been described.This study presents the first report of R.padi infection with the facultative bacterial endosymbiont Hamiltonella defensa.Individuals of R.padi were sampled from populations in Eastern Scotland,UK,and shown to represent seven R.padi genotypes based on the size of polymorphic microsatellite markers;two of these genotypes harbored H.defensa.In parasitism assays,survival of H.defensa-infected nymphs following attack by the parasitoid wasp Aphidius colemani(Viereck)was 5 fold higher than for uninfected nymphs.Aphid genotype was a major determinant of aphid performance on two Hordeum species,a modern cultivar of barley H.vulgare and a wild relative H.spontaneum,although aphids infected with H.defensa showed 16%lower nymph mass gain on the partially resistant wild relative compared with uninfected individuals.These findings suggest that deploying resistance traits in barley will favor the fittest R.padi genotypes,but symbiontinfected individuals will be favored when parasitoids are abundant,although these aphids will not achieve optimal performance on a poor quality host plant.
基金supported by the 2016–2021 strategic research program funded by the Scottish Government’s Rural and Environment Science and Analytical Services Division。
文摘To achieve the triple challenge of food security,reversing biodiversity declines plus mitigating and adapting to climate change,there is a drive to embed ecological principles into agricultural,value-chain practices and decisionmaking.By diversifying cropping systems at several scales there is potential to decrease reliance on inputs,provide resilience to abiotic and biotic stress,enhance plant,microbe and animal biodiversity,and mitigate against climate change.In this review we highlight the research performed in Scotland over the past 5 years into the impact of the use of ecological principles in agriculture on sustainability,resilience and provision of ecosystem functions.We demonstrate that diversification of the system can enhance ecosystem functions.Soil and plant management interventions,including nature-based solutions,can also enhance soil quality and utilization of legacy nutrients.Additionally,this is facilitated by greater reliance on soil biological processes and trophic interactions.We highlight the example of intercropping with legumes to deliver sustainability through ecological principles and use legumes as an exemplar of the innovation.We conclude that there are many effective interventions that can be made to deliver resilient,sustainable,and diverse agroecosystems for crop and food production,and these may be applicable in any agroecosystem.
