The Effect of Induced Resistance on Herbivore Population Dynamics

Rausher DEB-9615227植物的化学成分影响昆虫的生存和繁殖，从而可能影响昆虫种群的大小。在一种被称为诱导抗性的现象中，一些植物通过产生新的化合物来应对食草动物的攻击，这些化合物对昆虫的生长和繁殖产生了负面影响。了解可诱导抗性对昆虫食草动物的影响对于了解食草动物种群的调控是重要的，因为这种反应的强度可能会随着昆虫种群和昆虫危害的增加而增加。因此，诱导抗性可能是一种负反馈机制，有助于调节昆虫种群。研究人员将用大豆和墨西哥豆甲虫进行实验，以确定诱导抗性是否可以调节昆虫种群。诱导反应在遗传上不同的大豆品种将被用来比较诱导反应水平高和低的大豆品种上菜豆甲虫的种群动态。PI将使用计算机建模来调查什么条件使诱导抗性调节成为可能。重要的是要了解食草动物种群是如何被调控的，因为昆虫强烈地影响着具有重要商业价值的植物的产量。如果诱导抗性可以控制昆虫种群，农业育种者可能希望在他们的育种计划中包括诱导抗性。诱导抗性可能比使用恒定水平的植物防御更可取，因为诱导抗性可能会减缓昆虫对植物防御的抗性发展。

RAUSHER DEB-9615227 The chemical content of plants affects insect survival and reproduction and thus may influence the size of insect populations. In a phenomenon known as induced resistance, some plants respond to herbivore attack by producing new compounds which negatively affect insect growth and reproduction. Understanding the effects of inducible resistance on insect herbivores is important for understanding herbivore population regulation because the strength of the response may increase as insect populations and insect damage increases. Consequently, inducible resistance may be a negative feed-back mechanism that helps regulate insect populations. The investigator will perform experiments with soybeans and Mexican bean beetles to determine whether induced resistance can regulate insect populations. Soybean cultivars that vary genetically in inducible response will be used to compare the population dynamics of the bean beetle on soybean cultivars with high and low levels of inducible response. The PI will use computer modeling to investigate what conditions make regulation by induced resistance possible. It is important to understand how herbivore populations are regulated because insects strongly affect the yield of commercially important plants. If inducible resistance can control insect populations, agricultural breeders may want to include induced resistance in their breeding programs. Inducible resistance may be preferable to the use of constant levels of plant defense because induced resistance may slow the insect's development of resistance to plant defenses.