Herbivore species sharing a host plant often compete. In this study, we show that host plant-mediated interaction between two insect herbivores-a generalist and a specialist-results in a sex ratio shift of the special...Herbivore species sharing a host plant often compete. In this study, we show that host plant-mediated interaction between two insect herbivores-a generalist and a specialist-results in a sex ratio shift of the specialist＇s offspring. We studied demographic parameters of the specialist Tupiocoris notatus（Hemiptera： Miridae）when co-infesting the host plant Nicotiana attenuata（Solanaceae） with the generalist leafhopper Empoasca sp.（Hemiptera： Cicadellidae）. We show that the usually female-biased sex ratio of T. notatus shifts toward a higher male proportion in the offspring on plants coinfested by Empoasca sp. This sex ratio change did not occur after oviposition, nor is it due differential mortality of female and male nymphs. Based on pyrosequencing and PCR of bacterial 16 S rRNA amplicons, we concluded that sex ratio shifts were unlikely to be due to infection with Wolbachia or other known sex ratio-distorting endosymbionts. Finally, we used transgenic lines of N.attenuata to evaluate if the sex ratio shift could be mediated by changes in general or specialized host plant metabolites. We found that the sex ratio shift occurred on plants deficient in two cytokinin receptors（irCHK2/3）.Thus, cytokinin-regulated traits can alter the offspring sex ratio of the specialist T.notatus.展开更多
基金supported by the Max Planck Society(all)the German Centre for Integrative Biodiversity Research (iDiv) Halle-Jena-Leipzig,funded by the German Research Foundation(FZT 118+3 种基金N.A.,I.T.B.,M.C.S.)European Research Council advanced grant Clockwork Green to I.T.B.(number 293926I.T.B.,M.C.S.)in part by the Collaborative Research Centre Chemical Mediators in Complex Biosystems - ChemBioSys(CRC 1127) funded by the German Research Foundation(I.T. B.,M.C.S.)
文摘Herbivore species sharing a host plant often compete. In this study, we show that host plant-mediated interaction between two insect herbivores-a generalist and a specialist-results in a sex ratio shift of the specialist＇s offspring. We studied demographic parameters of the specialist Tupiocoris notatus（Hemiptera： Miridae）when co-infesting the host plant Nicotiana attenuata（Solanaceae） with the generalist leafhopper Empoasca sp.（Hemiptera： Cicadellidae）. We show that the usually female-biased sex ratio of T. notatus shifts toward a higher male proportion in the offspring on plants coinfested by Empoasca sp. This sex ratio change did not occur after oviposition, nor is it due differential mortality of female and male nymphs. Based on pyrosequencing and PCR of bacterial 16 S rRNA amplicons, we concluded that sex ratio shifts were unlikely to be due to infection with Wolbachia or other known sex ratio-distorting endosymbionts. Finally, we used transgenic lines of N.attenuata to evaluate if the sex ratio shift could be mediated by changes in general or specialized host plant metabolites. We found that the sex ratio shift occurred on plants deficient in two cytokinin receptors（irCHK2/3）.Thus, cytokinin-regulated traits can alter the offspring sex ratio of the specialist T.notatus.
