Effect of jasmonic acid on sugarcane induced defenses against Diatraea saccharalis Fabricius (Lepidoptera: Crambidae) herbivory

• Grant number: 13/11993-0
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Scientific Initiation
• Start date: April 01, 2014
• End date: December 31, 2014
• Field of knowledge: Agronomical Sciences - Agronomy - Plant Health
• Principal Investigator: Maria Fernanda Gomes Villalba Peñaflor
• Grantee: Patricia Alessandra Sanches
• Host Institution: Escola Superior de Agricultura Luiz de Queiroz (ESALQ). Universidade de São Paulo (USP). Piracicaba , SP, Brazil

Abstract

The sugarcane borer, Diatraea saccharalis (Lepidoptera: Pyralidae), is known for attacking the sugarcane culms and causes huge losses in Brazil, which is the world´s largest producer of this crop. Over millions of years, plants have evolved a variety of defense mechanisms in response to herbivore attack that can be exploited with aime of increasing resistance of agriculturally-important plants against pest attack. These defenses are mainly modulated by the plant hormone jasmonic acid (JA), whose exogenous application has been shown to be a promising technique based on integrated pest management (IPM) principles once it induces synthesis of plant defenses against herbivory. Thus, the project aims to investigate the effects of jasmonic acid (JA) on the resistance of the sugarcane plant, in terms of direct and indirect defenses, against the attack by the herbivore D. saccharalis. Direct defenses will be measured through herbivore performance and preference towards control and JA-treated plants, while indirect defenses will be evaluated based on the response of the parasitoid Cotesia flavipes (Hymenoptera: Braconidae) to sugarcane volatiles . As volatile profile from borer-attacked plants can be similar to the one from JA-treated plants, it will also be assessed the ability of C. flavipes in discriminating volatiles from JA-treated plants against odors released by plants treated with JA and infested by the borer . If the parasitoid is not able to discriminate between these two blends, host finding may be compromised in JA-treated areas, which is not desirable from IPM perspective. The methods employed on this study comprise behavioral assays, olfactometry, plant volatile collections and analyses. The project not only reveals ecological interactions between sugarcane, the borer and C. flavipes, but also has a great importance for the development of a technique compatible with IPM.

Scientific publications

(References retrieved automatically from Web of Science and SciELO through information on FAPESP grants and their corresponding numbers as mentioned in the publications by the authors)

DOS SANTOS, RAFAELA CRISTINA; GOMES VILLALBA PENAFLOR, MARIA FERNANDA; SANCHES, PATRICIA ALESSANDRA; NARDI, CRISTIANE; SIMOES BENTO, JOSE MAURICIO. The effects of Gibberella zeae, Barley Yellow Dwarf Virus, and co-infection on Rhopalosiphum padi olfactory preference and performance. PHYTOPARASITICA, v. 44, n. 1, p. 47-54, FEB 2016. (12/12252-1, 13/11993-0)

PENAFLOR, MARIA FERNANDA G. V.; GONCALVES, FELIPE G.; COLEPICOLO, CAMILA; SANCHES, PATRICIA A.; BENTO, JOSE MAURICIO S.. Effects of single and multiple herbivory by host and non-host caterpillars on the attractiveness of herbivore-induced volatiles of sugarcane to the generalist parasitoid Cotesia flavipes. Entomologia Experimentalis et Applicata, v. 165, n. 1, p. 83-93, OCT 2017. (13/05367-0, 12/12252-1, 08/57701-2, 13/11993-0)

SANTOS, FRANCIELE; PENAFLOR, MARIA FERNANDA G. V.; PARE, PAUL W.; SANCHES, PATRICIA A.; KAMIYA, ALINE C.; TONELLI, MATEUS; NARDI, CRISTIANE; BENTO, JOSE MAURICIO S.. A Novel Interaction between Plant-Beneficial Rhizobacteria and Roots: Colonization Induces Corn Resistance against the Root Herbivore Diabrotica speciosa. PLoS One, v. 9, n. 11, NOV 18 2014. (12/12252-1, 08/57701-2, 13/11993-0)