Voici les éléments 1 - 4 sur 4
  • Publication
    Accès libre
    Priming by airborne signals boosts direct and indirect resistance in maize
    (2007)
    Ton, Jurriaan
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    D'Alessandro, Marco
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    Jourdie, Violaine
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    Jakab, Gabor
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    Karlen, Danielle
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    ; ;
    Plants counteract attack by herbivorous insects using a variety of inducible defence mechanisms. The production of toxic proteins and metabolites that instantly affect the herbivore's development are examples of direct induced defence. In addition, plants may release mixtures of volatile organic compounds (VOCs) that indirectly protect the plant by attracting natural enemies of the herbivore. Recent studies suggest that these VOCs can also prime nearby plants for enhanced induction of defence upon future insect attack. However, evidence that this defence priming causes reduced vulnerability to insects is sparse. Here we present molecular, chemical and behavioural evidence that VOC-induced priming leads to improved direct and indirect resistance in maize. A differential hybridization screen for inducible genes upon attack by Spodoptera littoralis caterpillars identified 10 defence-related genes that are responsive to wounding, jasmonic acid (JA), or caterpillar regurgitant. Exposure to VOCs from caterpillar-infested plants did not activate these genes directly, but primed a subset of them for earlier and/or stronger induction upon subsequent defence elicitation. This priming for defence-related gene expression correlated with reduced caterpillar feeding and development. Furthermore, exposure to caterpillar-induced VOCs primed for enhanced emissions of aromatic and terpenoid compounds. At the peak of this VOC emission, primed plants were significantly more attractive to parasitic Cotesia marginiventris wasps. This study shows that VOC-induced priming targets a specific subset of JA-inducible genes, and links these responses at the molecular level to enhanced levels of direct and indirect resistance against insect attack.
  • Publication
    Accès libre
    Advances and challenges in the identification of volatiles that mediate interactions among plants and arthropods
    (2006)
    D'Alessandro, Marco
    ;
    The relatively new research field of Chemical Ecology has, over the last two decades, revealed an important role of plant-produced volatile organic compounds (VOCs) in mediating interactions between plants and other organisms. Of particular interest are the volatile blends that plants actively emit in response to herbivore damage. Various efforts are underway to pinpoint the bioactive compounds in these complex blends, but this has proven to be exceedingly difficult. Here we give a short overview on the role of herbivore-induced plant volatiles in interactions between plants and other organisms and we review methods that are currently employed to collect and identify key volatile compounds mediating these interactions. Our perspective on future directions of this fascinating research field places special emphasis on the need for an interdisciplinary approach. Joint efforts by chemists and biologists should not only facilitate the elucidation of crucial compounds, but can also be expected to lead to an exploitation of this knowledge, whereby ecological interactions may be chemically manipulated in order to protect crops and the environment.s and Ethnic Identities in the Americas
  • Publication
    Accès libre
    The Role of Indole and Other Shikimic Acid Derived Maize Volatiles in the Attraction of Two Parasitic Wasps
    (2006)
    D'Alessandro, Marco
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    Triponez, Yann
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    After herbivore attack, plants release a plethora of different volatile organic compounds (VOCs), which results in odor blends that are attractive to predators and parasitoids of these herbivores. VOCs in the odor blends emitted by maize plants (Zea mays) infested by lepidopteran larvae are well characterized. They are derived from at least three different biochemical pathways, but the relative importance of each pathway for the production of VOCs that attract parasitic wasps is unknown. Here, we studied the importance of shikimic acid derived VOCs for the attraction of females of the parasitoids Cotesia marginiventris and Microplitis rufiventris. By incubating caterpillar-infested maize plants in glyphosate, an inhibitor of the 5-enolpyruvylshikimate-3-phospate (EPSP) synthase, we obtained induced odor blends with only minute amounts of shikimic acid derived VOCs. In olfactometer bioassays, the inhibited plants were as attractive to naive C. marginiventris females as control plants that released normal amounts of shikimic acid derived VOCs, whereas naive M. rufiventris females preferred inhibited plants to control plants. By adding back synthetic indole, the quantitatively most important shikimic acid derived VOC in induced maize odors, to inhibited plants, we showed that indole had no effect on the attraction of C. marginiventris and that M. rufiventris preferred blends without synthetic indole. Exposing C. marginiventris females either to odor blends of inhibited or control plants during oviposition experiences shifted their preference in subsequent olfactometer tests in favor of the experienced odor. Further learning experiments with synthetic indole showed that C. marginiventris can learn to respond to this compound, but that this does not affect its choices between natural induced blends with or without indole. We hypothesize that for naïve wasps the attractiveness of an herbivore-induced odor blend is reduced due to masking by nonattractive compounds, and that during oviposition experiences in the presence of complex odor blends, parasitoids strongly associate some compounds, whereas others are largely ignored.
  • Publication
    Accès libre
    In Situ Modification of Herbivore-Induced Plant Odors : A Novel Approach to Study the Attractiveness of Volatile Organic Compounds to Parasitic Wasps
    (2004)
    D'Alessandro, Marco
    ;
    Many parasitic wasps (parasitoids) exploit volatile organic compounds (VOCs) emitted by herbivore-infested plants in order to locate their hosts, but it remains largely unknown which specific compounds within the volatile blends elicit the attractiveness to parasitoids. One way of studying the importance of specific VOCs is to test the attractiveness of odor blends from which certain compounds have been emitted. We used this approach by testing the attraction of naive and experienced females of the two parasitoids Cotesia marginiventris and Microplitis rufiventris to partially altered volatile blends of maize seedlings (Zea mays var. Delprim) infested with Spodoptera littoralis larvae. Adsorbing filter tubes containing carbotrap-C or silica were installed in a four-arm olfactometer between the odor source vessels and the arms of the olfactometer. The blends breaking through were tested for chemical composition and attractiveness to the wasps. Carbotrap-C adsorbed most of the sesquiterpenes, but the breakthrough blend remained attractive to naive C. marginiventris females. Silica adsorbed only some of the more polar VOCs, but this essentially eliminated all attractiveness to naive C. marginiventris, implying that among the adsorbed compounds there are some that play key roles in the attraction. Unlike C. marginiventris, M. rufiventris was still attracted to the latter blend, showing that parasitoids with a comparable biology may employ different strategies in their use of plant-provided cues to locate hosts. Results from similar experiments with modified odor blends of caterpillar-infested cowpea (Vigna unguiculata) indicate that key VOCs in different plant species vary greatly in quality and/or quantity. Finally, experienced wasps were more strongly attracted to a specific blend after they perceived the blend while ovipositing in a host. Considering the high number of distinct adsorbing materials available today, this in situ modification of complex volatile blends provides a new and promising approach pinpointing on key attractants within these blends. Advantages and disadvantages compared to other approaches are discussed.