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Evaluating the Effects of Epichloë Fungal Endophytes of Perennial Ryegrass on the Feeding Behaviour and Life History of Rhopalosiphum padi

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posted on 2024-10-31, 02:42 authored by Nicholas Collinson, Khageswor Giri, Jatinder KaurJatinder Kaur, German SpangenbergGerman Spangenberg, Mallik Malipatil, Ross Mann, Isabel Valenzuela
The bird cherry-oat aphid, Rhopalosiphum padi (L.), is an economically significant pest of pasture grasses, the latter being capable of hosting several fungal endophyte-perennial ryegrass symbiota rich in alkaloids and toxic to vertebrates and invertebrates. Measuring aphid feeding behaviour can provide insights into the effectiveness and mode of action of different fungal endophytes. This study investigated the effects of different Epichloë-perennial ryegrass symbiota on the feeding behaviour of R. padi using the electrical penetration graph technique while also assessing the aphid life history. In most cases, endophytes had significant feeding deterrence and paired fecundity and mortality effects. But, in some instances, endophytes with the highest aphid mortality did not significantly deter feeding, suggesting a more complicated scenario of interactions between the relative concentration of metabolites, e.g., host plant defence response metabolites and alkaloids, and/or physical changes to leaf morphology. Overall, this study sheds light on the mode of action of Epichloë endophytes against aphids and highlights the importance of Epichloë-perennial ryegrass symbiota in the management of insect pests such as aphids in pasture-based grazing systems.

Funding

Research funding was granted by DairyBio (diarybio.com.au) to N.P.C. through a postgraduate program.

History

Publication Date

2024-09-26

Journal

Insects

Volume

15

Issue

10

Article Number

744

Pagination

13p.

Publisher

Multidisciplinary Digital Publishing Institute

ISSN

2075-4450

Rights Statement

© 2024 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).

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