FLORDETERSIGNALS · Silene floral and deterrent signals
FP7 — People (Marie Curie Actions)
- Duration
- 2007-10-01 → 2010-09-30
- EU contribution
- €45,000
- Participants
- 1
- Scheme
- MC-ERG
Lines connect the coordinator with its partners.
Results in brief
Silene floral and deterrent signals
Project context and objectives The objectives of part B: 1. Do the floral odours of Silene plants change after egg deposition or seed consumption by the larvae of Handena bicruris? Volatile organic compounds (VOCs) were found to change after Handena bicruris eggs were deposited. The control plants released significantly more lilac aldehyde A, B, C and D and veratrole than plants with eggs. The exposure of uninjured plants to infestations in the second part of our experiment resulted in a rather low VOC induction. 2. a) Do vegetative odours of Silene plants change with larval consumption of seeds? The researcher noticed that there was no connection between larval consumption and odour releasing; larvae were actively eating on the seeds. However, no signal was seen on the gas chromatography- mass spectrometry (GC-MS) chromatograms. The researcher suspected that the plants were too old to produce and release odours. Actively growing crop plants (cereals) release odours at BBCH 32-49. After BBCH 49, crop plants do not produce and release volatiles. The researcher suggested that there is a similar situation with Silene plants. b) Do the induced changes vary in populations with different abundances of co-pollinators? The researcher was working on Autographa gamma and Hadena bicruris (both pollinators). With Autographa gamma, the changes in VOC production were very low and not significant. However, it was a different situation with Hadena bicruris. After pollination, the plant significantly restricted the production of attractant. The changes in VOC production were different following the abundance of co-pollinators. Pollinated plants (by Autographa gamma and Hadena bicruris) also restricted the production of attractants. The researcher found that there was a decrease in the total scent emission after pollination. c) Do the Silene plants produce repellent compounds against Hadena and/or attractive compounds for their natural enemies? There were compounds (ß-pinene, ß-myrcene, (Z)-ocimene, ß-caryopyllene and (E)-ß-farnesene) that were released in larger amounts after egg depositions but surprisingly the production of attractants (lilac aldehyde A, B, C and D and veratrole) were significantly reduced. As a result, the adults of Hadena bicruris did not deposit any more eggs.
Data: CORDIS, © European Union
Project objective
Globalization has resulted in the transport of species around the world. Humans have removed many of the typical barriers and have increased the movement of species overall. Among these transported species, some have been identified as having substantial negative economic ecological impacts. Protecting crops against insect pest using environmental-friendly practices is a growing concern in Europe. This concern led the European commission to re-evaluate and limit the use of pesticides on all crops. Biological control agents have the potential to significantly reduce pest populations. The main research idea for this project is to look at herbivore iduced floral odor changes and their evolutionary dynamics in Silene. This is of special inerest since in this plant, one of the main herbivores is also a pollinator (Hadena bicruris). Thus there should be a fundamental trade-off for the plant, either to invest in pollinator attraction, or avoid herbivore attack. The net impact of Hadena on the fitness of Silene depends on the availability of other pollinators. If co-pollinators are frequent and efficient, Hadena will act as an antagonist, but if co-pollinators are missing, Hadena will be a synergist. In this project, the applicant proposes to analyze volatiles released by Silene plants in response to Hadena seed consumption, and compares these induced responses in multiple populations, to learn about evolutionary dynamics of this system. The applicant suggests focusing more on the evolutionary side of the story. One of the main question is how do induced responses in plants evolve, and how flexible is this system? This is quite a novel question, and it has not at all been introduced in pest management. In this project, the applicant proposes to analyze volatiles released by Silene plants in response to Hadena seed consumption, and compares these induced responses in multiple populations, to learn about evolutionary dynamics of this system.
Original text from CORDIS.
Participants
- POLITECHNIKA BYDGOSKA IM JANA I JEDRZEJA SNIADECKICH · BydgoszczCoordinatorPoland
Links
Data: CORDIS, © European Union