Temperature-Food interaction in herbivorous insects

Summary Constant low temperature and poorly digestible food hinder growth of herbivorous insects. This may be one of the reasons which exclude poikilothermic herbivores from the high arctic tundra (in contrast to high alpine ecosystems).     

植物与植食性昆虫防御与反防御的三个层次

在植物与植食性昆虫长期的进化过程中,双方形成了一系列的防御与反防御策略。本文将这些策略归为3个层次:第一层次起始于植物对植食性昆虫相关分子模式的识别,并由此激活植食性昆虫分子模式相关的免疫反应。这种免疫反应对于不能产生效应子的植食性昆虫种群是有效的;第二层次是一些植食性昆虫种群可以通过释放特异性效应子抑制植物产生的植食性昆虫分子模式相关的免疫反应,从而在植物上正常生长与繁衍;第三层次是一些植物基因型可以通过特异抗性基因识别植食性昆虫的效应子,进而激活效应子诱导的免疫反应,表现出特异的抗虫性。深入揭示植物与植食性昆虫间的这种分子互作机制,不仅在理论上有助于理解昆虫与植物的协同进化机制,而且在实践上可为作物抗性品种的培育提供重要的技术指导。     

Evolutionary dynamics of specialisation in herbivorous stick insects

Understanding the evolutionary dynamics underlying herbivorous insect mega‐diversity requires investigating the ability of insects to shift and adapt to different host plants. Feeding experiments with nine related stick insect species revealed that insects retain the ability to use ancestral host plants after shifting to novel hosts, with host plant shifts generating fundamental feeding niche expansions. These expansions were, however, not accompanied by expansions of the realised feeding niches, as species on novel hosts are generally ecologically specialised. For shifts from angiosperm to chemically challenging conifer hosts, generalist fundamental feeding niches even evolved jointly with strong host plant specialisation, indicating that host plant specialisation is not driven by constraints imposed by plant chemistry. By coupling analyses of plant chemical compounds, fundamental and ecological feeding niches in multiple insect species, we provide novel insights into the evolutionary dynamics of host range expansion and contraction in herbivorous insects.     

诠释植食性昆虫是怎样选择食料植物的

昆虫对食料植物的选择,是各种昆虫行为最为明显的表现,和人类的农林生产有密切的关系。在蝗虫、甲虫等昆虫种类中,幼虫和成虫常取食相同的植物,但鳞翅目、双翅目等昆虫的幼虫的食料植物与成虫的不同,常在成虫产卵时决定幼虫取食的植物。昆虫对植物的选择依靠感觉器官的功能,而植物除合有昆虫所需的营养成分外,还合有种类特异性的代谢次生物质,它们对昆虫产生感觉刺激,是昆虫对植物进行选择的主要因素。有些昆虫在选择植物时嗅觉、味觉、触觉起着比较严格的限制作用,称为寡食性或单食性的种类。另一些昆虫虽然感觉作用也很灵敏,但适应的范围较广,能取食多种植物,称为多食性昆虫。以飞蝗、棉铃虫与烟青虫为例,介绍了昆虫的感觉器官和神经系统在选择食料植物时所起的作用。     

Role of plant abundance in determining the abundance of herbivorous insects

Summary The proposal (Gaston and Lawton 1988a, b) that small species of insects are more abundant because they have lower per capita resource requirements than large species does not hold for aphids (Dixon 1990a). There are good theoretical grounds, supported by empirical data, for the suggestion that host specific aphids that live on uncommon plants incur great losses in finding their host plants and as a consequence have a lower realized r _m and are rarer than aphids living on common plants. This is also likely to apply to other organisms that are host specific and time-limited dispersers.     

非社会性植食昆虫的同种相残行为及其机理

同种相残是指动物杀死并取食同种其他个体的行为,一般被认为是种群密度自我调节的一种方式,常常是影响种群动态和群落结构的重要因素,具有重要的生态学和进化生物学意义。本文从以下几个方面综述了非社会性植食昆虫的同种相残行为及其机理的研究进展：影响同种相残行为发生的因素,同种相残的获利与代价,同种相残与亲子识别及护幼行为的关系,同种相残的进化驱动力等。对植食性昆虫同种相残行为的研究不但具有重要的理论意义,同时,如果我们对同种相残行为发生的生态学、生理学和遗传学机理进行深入研究,或许有助于我们利用相关机理实现植食性昆虫田间种群数量的自我调控,这将对害虫的综合治理产生重要的影响。     

植食性昆虫唾液效应子和激发子的研究进展

植食性昆虫与寄主植物通过协同进化形成了复杂的防御和反防御机制.本文系统综述了昆虫唾液效应子和激发子在植物与昆虫互作中的作用及机理.昆虫取食中释放的唾液激发子被植物识别而激活植物早期免疫反应,昆虫也能从口腔分泌效应子到植物体内抑制免疫;抗性植物则利用抗性(R)蛋白识别昆虫无毒效应子,启动效应子诱导的免疫反应,而昆虫又进化...     

丛枝菌根真菌与植食性昆虫的相互作用

丛枝菌根(arbuscular mycorrhizal AM)真菌与昆虫均是陆地生态系统中的重要组分,同植物关系密切,对植物的影响和作用是巨大的。生态系统中则以AM真菌-植物-昆虫互作体系参预食物网与生态过程。早在20世纪80年代,人们已开始研究AM真菌对昆虫的影响。进入21世纪人们越来越重视AM真菌与昆虫的相互作用。总结了AM真菌对昆虫取食偏好、生长、繁殖和对植物危害等方面的影响、以及昆虫对AM真菌侵染、扩展和产孢的影响;分析了植物营养状况、昆虫性别、昆虫龄期和AM真菌种类等对AM真菌与昆虫相互作用的影响特点;探讨了AM真菌与昆虫相互作用的机制;展望了利用AM真菌抑制植食性害虫、及促进天敌昆虫和部分传粉昆虫作用的可能性,旨在丰富菌根学研究内容、促进AM真菌与昆虫互作领域的深入研究、为探索生物防控农林业害虫的新途径提供依据。     

Estimates of damage by herbivorous insects on Eucalyptus trees

High levels of insect damage on Eucalyptus have been noted but not quantified in previous literature. We present estimates of leaf damage for 44 Eucalyptus species from a variety of habitats. Overall, an average of 15% of expanded leaf area was missing. While some species were generally lightly grazed, others, especially those in more mesic. higher altitude communities, usually sustained much heavier leaf damage. In the age and size classes, communities and years that we sampled, the overall levels of damage to eucalypts were higher than chronic damage levels reported for north temperate communities. We also suggest a simple method for rapidly estimating the proportion of leaf area missing from trees.     

紫外B辐射增强对植食性昆虫的影响

大气平流层臭氧的破坏直接增强了到达地面的太阳紫外线,特别是紫外B辐射的强度。紫外B辐射增强将对生态系统产生深刻的影响。本文综述了近年来紫外B辐射增强对昆虫影响的研究,分析了紫外B辐射增强可能产生的对植食性昆虫的直接和间接影响及其机制,就紫外B辐射增强对昆虫影响方面迫切需要阐明的一些问题进行了讨论。     

重金属污染影响植食性昆虫的研究进展

重金属污染是世界各国面临的最为棘手的问题之一,对生态系统和食品安全构成了严重威胁。作为生态系统中食物链和食物网的重要环节,植食性昆虫是环境中重金属迁移、积累的重要媒介,其因重金属污染而受到的影响引起了大家的关注。本文综述了从2007至2018年重金属污染对植食性昆虫影响的研究进展。昆虫受重金属胁迫的研究途径有人工饲料添加、野外田间暴露、“土壤-植物-昆虫”食物链传递以及体外注射等。积累在植食性昆虫体内的过量重金属可导致其存活率、繁殖力和种群增长率降低,生长发育迟缓。重金属污染对植食性昆虫的生理生化毒性包括细胞超微结构破坏和DNA损伤,体内能量物质含量降低,酶活性、基因表达改变等。植食性昆虫会通过重金属硫蛋白、解毒酶活性的诱导等机制抵御重金属的毒害,从而对低浓度、长期重金属暴露产生生态适应性,甚至提高对其他逆境(如农药等)的耐受性。     

植物与植食性昆虫相互作用的分子机制

在长期的协同进化中,植物建立起应对昆虫取食为害的精密而又复杂的防御机制,植物转录组调控中防御应答基因的表达及防御物质的合成因不同的昆虫取食方式而异。一般来说,咀嚼式口器昆虫取食时造成大面积组织伤害,可诱导植物产生伤害反应;而刺吸式口器昆虫因其特殊的口针取食,诱导植物激活病原体相关的防御途径。不同的防御途径激活不同的识别机制和信号途径。本文从信号识别和转导上综述了不同食性的昆虫取食植物时所引发的防御反应,分析了昆虫-植物相互作用关系的分子机制。     

Differential effectiveness of microbially induced resistance against herbivorous insects in Arabidopsis

Rhizobacteria-induced systemic resistance (ISR) and pathogen-induced systemic acquired resistance (SAR) have a broad, yet partly distinct, range of effectiveness against pathogenic microorganisms. Here, we investigated the effectiveness of ISR and SAR in Arabidopsis against the tissue-chewing insects Pieris rapae and Spodoptera exigua. Resistance against insects consists of direct defense, such as the production of toxins and feeding deterrents and indirect defense such as the production of plant volatiles that attract carnivorous enemies of the herbivores. Wind-tunnel experiments revealed that ISR and SAR did not affect herbivore-induced attraction of the parasitic wasp Cotesia rubecula (indirect defense). By contrast, ISR and SAR significantly reduced growth and development of the generalist herbivore S. exigua, although not that of the specialist P. rapae. This enhanced direct defense against S. exigua was associated with potentiated expression of the defense-related genes PDF1.2 and HEL. Expression profiling using a dedicated cDNA microarray revealed four additional, differentially primed genes in microbially induced S. exigua-challenged plants, three of which encode a lipid-transfer protein. Together, these results indicate that microbially induced plants are differentially primed for enhanced insect-responsive gene expression that is associated with increased direct defense against the generalist S. exigua but not against the specialist P. rapae.     

昆虫肠-脑轴的研究进展

肠-脑轴是大脑和肠道神经系统双向联系的通道,近年来关于肠道微生物与宿主的神经生理和行为之间关系的研究快速增长,成为学科领域研究热点和发展方向之一。肠-脑轴调控昆虫多种行为和生理功能,昆虫的生长发育、繁殖等都与肠道菌密不可分。本文综述了肠道微生物对昆虫觅食、运动、交配、攻击、学习和记忆行为以及社会性行为的影响,并且概述了以昆虫为模型,对肠-脑轴与人类神经性疾病相关性研究的进展。     

The multi-tasking gut epithelium of insects

The insect gut epithelium plays a vital role in multiple processes, including nutrition, immunity and osmoregulation. Recent research is revealing the molecular and biochemical basis of these functions. For example, the pattern of nutrient acquisition by the gut epithelium is integrated into the overall regulation of nutrient allocation, as illustrated by evidence for systemic controls over expression of key genes coding digestive enzymes and transporters in carbohydrate acquisition; and the abundance and diversity of microorganisms in the gut lumen is regulated by multiple molecular properties of the gut epithelial cells, including the synthesis of enzymes that produce reactive oxygen species and anti-microbial peptides. These traits are underpinned by the function of the gut epithelium as a selective barrier which mediates the controlled movement of water, ions, metabolites and macromolecules between the gut lumen and insect tissues. Breakdown of the gut epithelial barrier has been implicated in muscle paralysis of insects at low temperatures (chill coma) and in aging. The key challenge for future research is to understand how the multiple functions of the insect gut epithelium are integrated by signaling interactions among epithelial cells, the gut microbiota and other insect organs.     

Long lasting impact of forest harvesting on the diversity of herbivorous insects

Many of the protected forest areas in Uganda have been subject to logging in the past. It is known that logging changes communities, but how long these changes last is unclear. Most of the studies on butterflies and moths have looked at the effects of logging relatively shortly (<15 years) after the logging took place. In this study we investigated community of herbivorous lepidopteran larvae and its temporal dynamics in a natural forest and three differently managed forest compartments after 40 years of regeneration. We collected samples of larvae from the leaves of Neoboutonia macrocalyx Pax. between April 2006 and March 2008 in Kibale National Park, Western Uganda. Herbivory, density of larvae, and species richness were significantly lower in logged compartments than in natural forest. Furthermore, the community composition differed significantly between the logged compartments and the natural forest. There was seasonal variation in larval density, species richness and diversity. In species richness and diversity the variation was synchronous in all the study areas, but larval density did not vary synchronously across the compartments, probably due to the impact of logging on the environment. We also observed changes in the community composition during different seasons in all the study areas. We attribute the long term impact of logging to the hindered regeneration of logged compartments and recommend restoration activities to help to return the logged areas closer to the natural state.