Does the Infectious Status of Aphids Influence Their Preference Towards Healthy, Virus-Infected and Endophytically Colonized Plants?

摘要

Aphids (Hemiptera: Aphididae) cause significant damage and transmit viruses to various crop plants. We aimed to evaluate how the infectious status of aphids influences their interaction with potential hosts. Two aphid ( Myzus persicae and Rhopalosiphum padi ) and plant ( Nicotiana tabacum and Triticum aestivum ) species were used. The preferences of aphids towards healthy, virus-infected ( Potato Leafroll Virus (PLRV) and Barley Yellow Dwarf virus (BYDV)), and endophytic entomopathogenic fungi (EEPF)-inoculated ( Beauveria bassiana and Metarhizium acridum ) plants were investigated in dual-choice tests. The headspace volatiles of the different plant modalities were also sampled and analyzed. Viruliferous and non-viruliferous aphids were more attracted to EEPF-inoculated plants compared to uninoculated plants. However, viruliferous aphids were more attracted to EEPF-inoculated plants compared to virus-infected plants, while non-viruliferous insects exhibited no preference. Fungal-inoculated plants released higher amounts of aldehydes (i.e., heptanal, octanal, nonanal and decanal) compared to other plants, which might explain why viruliferous and non-viruliferous aphids were more abundant in EEPF-inoculated plants. Our study provides an interesting research perspective on how EEPF are involved in behavior of virus vector, depending on the infectious status of the latter.