English (United Kingdom)

https://curated-unify.zendy.io/wp-json/zendy-region/v1/featured_content/oa?rat=en

https://curated-unify.zendy.io/wp-json/zendy-region/v1/highlighted_journal/

Global: Zendy Plus annual

Presents the access of premium content as premium feature

Premium Content

Presents the keyphrase highlighting as premium feature

Keyphrase Highlighting

Presents the summarisation as premium feature

Summarisation

Insights

Presents the pdf analysis as premium feature

PDF Analysis

Presents the zaia usage as premium feature

ZAIA

Global: Zendy Tools annual

Global: Zendy Free Plan

Global: Zendy Tools monthly

Global: Zendy Plus monthly

Background  Associational herbivore resistance is potentiated by neighbouring heterogenic plant species that impact a focal plant’s attraction to herbivores or the damage that they cause. One mechanism to confer associational resistance is believed to be exposure to neighbour-emitted volatiles, the receivers of which range from intra- and interspecific neighbour plants to higher-trophic-level insects. In previous studies the passive adsorption of neighbour-emitted semivolatiles has been reported, but little is known regarding the mechanisms and ecological consequences on the receiver plant and its associated biota. To utilize volatile-based associational resistance for agricultural applications, it is imperative to know its effectiveness under varying diurnal temperatures and whether herbivore natural enemies, providing biological control, are impacted. Mimicking varying diurnal temperatures in a laboratory set-up, we assessed how the tritrophic model system  Brassica oleracea  var.  italica  (broccoli)– Plutella xylostella  (crucifer specialist herbivore)– Cotesia vestalis  (endoparasitoid of  P. xylostella ) is influenced by exposure to the natural semivolatile emitter plant  Rhododendron tomentosum  Harmaja.    Results   Rhododendron tomentosum- exposed  B. oleracea  was less susceptible to  P. xylostella  oviposition at both night-time (12°C) and day-time (22°C) temperatures and less favoured and damaged by  P. xylostella  larvae at 12°C. Exposure did not interfere with indirect defence, i.e. attraction of the natural enemy  C. vestalis  on host-damaged,  R. tomentosum -exposed  B. oleracea  under 22°C, while there was a reduction in attraction (marginal preference towards host-damaged  B. oleracea ) under 12°C.    Conclusions  The ability of  R. tomentosum  exposure to render associational resistance against an agriculturally important  Brassica  herbivore  P. xylostella  without severely compromising the specialist parasitoid  C. vestalis  host location encourages further studies on the potential of using this naturally abundant plant for biocontrol. The generality of our finding on temperature as a potential regulating mechanism for the efficacy of semivolatile emitter-based associational resistance towards specialist pest larval damage should be further studied in natural and agricultural associations. Our study emphasizes the need to develop techniques to compare volatiles at the leaf versus air interface and associate their appearance and ecological role with times of activity and level of specialisation of herbivores and their natural enemies.

Utilizing associational resistance for biocontrol: impacted by temperature, supported by indirect defence