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Population differences in host plant preference and the importance of yeast and plant substrate to volatile composition.

ABSTRACT: Divergent selection between environments can result in changes to the behavior of an organism. In many insects, volatile compounds are a primary means by which host plants are recognized and shifts in plant availability can result in changes to host preference. Both the plant substrate and microorganisms can influence this behavior, and host plant choice can have an impact on the performance of the organism. In Drosophila mojavensis, four geographically isolated populations each use different cacti as feeding and oviposition substrates and identify those cacti by the composition of the volatile odorants emitted. Behavioral tests revealed D. mojavensis populations vary in their degree of preference for their natural host plant. Females from the Mojave population show a marked preference for their host plant, barrel cactus, relative to other cactus choices. When flies were given a choice between cacti that were not their host plant, the preference for barrel and organ pipe cactus relative to agria and prickly pear cactus was overall lower for all populations. Volatile headspace composition is influenced by the cactus substrate, microbial community, and substrate-by-microorganism interactions. Differences in viability, developmental time, thorax length, and dry body weight exist among populations and depend on cactus substrate and population-by-cactus interactions. However, no clear association between behavioral preference and performance was observed. This study highlights a complex interplay between the insect, host plant, and microbial community and the factors mediating insect host plant preference behavior.

SUBMITTER: Date P

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5468138 | biostudies-literature | 2017 Jun

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Population differences in host plant preference and the importance of yeast and plant substrate to volatile composition.

Date Priya P Crowley-Gall Amber A Diefendorf Aaron F AF Rollmann Stephanie M SM

Ecology and evolution 20170418 11

Divergent selection between environments can result in changes to the behavior of an organism. In many insects, volatile compounds are a primary means by which host plants are recognized and shifts in plant availability can result in changes to host preference. Both the plant substrate and microorganisms can influence this behavior, and host plant choice can have an impact on the performance of the organism. In <i>Drosophila mojavensis,</i> four geographically isolated populations each use diffe ...[more]

PMID: 28616178

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Project description:BACKGROUND: The discovery and development of novel plant cell wall degrading enzymes is a key step towards more efficient depolymerization of polysaccharides to fermentable sugars for the production of liquid transportation biofuels and other bioproducts. The industrial fungus Trichoderma reesei is known to be highly cellulolytic and is a major industrial microbial source for commercial cellulases, xylanases and other cell wall degrading enzymes. However, enzyme-prospecting research continues to identify opportunities to enhance the activity of T. reesei enzyme preparations by supplementing with enzymatic diversity from other microbes. The goal of this study was to evaluate the enzymatic potential of a broad range of plant pathogenic and non-pathogenic fungi for their ability to degrade plant biomass and isolated polysaccharides. RESULTS: Large-scale screening identified a range of hydrolytic activities among 348 unique isolates representing 156 species of plant pathogenic and non-pathogenic fungi. Hierarchical clustering was used to identify groups of species with similar hydrolytic profiles. Among moderately and highly active species, plant pathogenic species were found to be more active than non-pathogens on six of eight substrates tested, with no significant difference seen on the other two substrates. Among the pathogenic fungi, greater hydrolysis was seen when they were tested on biomass and hemicellulose derived from their host plants (commelinoid monocot or dicot). Although T. reesei has a hydrolytic profile that is highly active on cellulose and pretreated biomass, it was less active than some natural isolates of fungi when tested on xylans and untreated biomass. CONCLUSIONS: Several highly active isolates of plant pathogenic fungi were identified, particularly when tested on xylans and untreated biomass. There were statistically significant preferences for biomass type reflecting the monocot or dicot host preference of the pathogen tested. These highly active fungi are promising targets for identification and characterization of novel cell wall degrading enzymes for industrial applications.

Project description:Ecotones, characterized by adjacent yet distinct biotic communities, provide natural laboratories in which to investigate how environmental selection influences the ecology and evolution of organisms. For wild herbivores, differential plant availability across sharp ecotones may be an important source of dietary-based selection.We studied small herbivore diet composition across a sharp ecotone where two species of woodrat, Neotoma bryanti and N. lepida, come into secondary contact with one another and hybridize. We quantified woodrat dietary preference through trnL metabarcoding of field-collected fecal pellets and experimental choice trials. Despite gene flow, parental N. bryanti and N. lepida maintain distinct diets across this fine spatial scale, and across temporal scales that span both wet and dry conditions. Neotoma bryanti maintained a more diverse diet, with Frangula californica (California coffeeberry) making up a large portion of its diet. Neotoma lepida maintains a less diverse diet, with Prunus fasciculata (desert almond) comprising more than half of its diet. Both F. californica and P. fasciculata are known to produce potentially toxic plant secondary compounds (PSCs), which should deter herbivory, yet these plants have relatively high nutritional value as measured by crude protein content. Neotoma bryanti and N. lepida consumed F. californica and P. fasciculata, respectively, in greater abundance than these plants are available on the landscape-indicating dietary selection. Finally, experimental preference trials revealed that N. bryanti exhibited a preference for F. californica, while N. lepida exhibited a relatively stronger preference for P. fasciculata. We find that N. bryanti exhibit a generalist herbivore strategy relative to N. lepida, which exhibit a more specialized feeding strategy in this study system.Our results suggest that woodrats respond to fine-scale environmental differences in plant availability that may require different metabolic strategies in order to balance nutrient acquisition while minimizing exposure to potentially toxic PSCs.

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Population differences in host plant preference and the importance of yeast and plant substrate to volatile composition.

Publications

Population differences in host plant preference and the importance of yeast and plant substrate to volatile composition.

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