Parsnip Webworms as Selective Agents On Primary Metabolites of Wild Parsnip

小行星9509826 欧洲防风草网虫，引进的植物饲养的昆虫，和野生欧洲防风草，引进的杂草，作为其主要的主机在其整个范围内，是极少数的自然系统中，估计已作出的昆虫的能力，选择化学抗性在其寄主植物之间的相互作用。 迄今为止，在该系统中的注意力集中在由植物产生的杀虫化合物呋喃香豆素在赋予对昆虫的抗性中的作用。 本提案的重点是确定可能作为昆虫营养物质的植物初级代谢物是否受到昆虫植食性动物的选择。 植物营养品质可以响应于昆虫植食性而进化的假设在近二十年来一直没有得到有效的验证。 这项研究是为数不多的研究植物初级代谢产物对昆虫抗性的变化的后果，因此可以用来评估这一假设及其对植物/昆虫相互作用研究的影响。 除了对基础研究的重要性外，该项目对消耗作物的害虫物种的管理也有影响。 目前人们有兴趣开发新的机制，以减少农业生态系统中的虫害问题，同时减少对这些系统的化学投入。 由于人类并不像许多植食性昆虫那样只以单一植物物种为食，因此选择性育种以改变植物的营养水平可能会在没有化学投入的情况下减少昆虫的损害，对人类消费者的不利影响很小或没有。

9509826 Berenbaum The interactions between the parsnip webworm, an introduced plant-feeding insect, and the wild parsnip, an introduced weed that serves as its principal host throughout its range, is one of very few natural systems in which estimates have been made of the ability of an insect to select for chemically based resistance in its hostplant. To date, attention in this system has focused on the role of furanocoumarins, insecticidal compounds produced by the plant, in conferring resistance against the insect. The focus of this proposal is to determine whether plant primary metabolites, which may serve as nutrients for insects, are under selection by insect herbivores. The hypothesis that plant nutritional quality can evolve in response to insect herbivory has remained effectively untested for almost two decades. This study is one of few to examine the consequences of variation in plant primary metabolites on insect resistance and as such can be used to evaluate that hypothesis and its implication for studies of plant/insect interactions. In addition to its importance to basic studies, this project has implications for the management of crop-consuming pest species. There is currently interest in developing novel mechanisms to reduce pest problems in agroecosystems and at the same time reduce chemical inputs to those systems. Because humans do not feed exclusively on a single plant species, as do many phytophagous insects, selective breeding for altered nutrient levels in plants may lead to reductions in insect damage in the absence of chemical inputs, with little or no adverse impacts on human consumers.