Journal article
Corn defense responses to nitrogen availability and subsequent performance and feeding preferences of beet armyworm (Lepidoptera: Noctuidae)
Journal of Economic Entomology, Vol.106(3), pp.1240-1249
2013
Abstract
Many studies have reported the effect of nitrogen (N) fertilization on plant constitutive defense responses; however, little is known about their effects on plant induced defense patterns and its consequence for insect herbivores. In our experiments, the effects of N availability on growth, nutritional quality (N content, protein/carbohydrate [P:C] ratio, modified gross energy [MGE]), and constitutive phenolics of corn, Zea mays L. were quantified. Moreover, the indirect effects of N fertilization on the beet armyworm, Spodoptera exigua Hübner through larval performance and feeding preference were examined. N fertilization increased plant growth, and depressed defense traits by increasing N content and the P:C ratio, as well as decreasing the constitutive concentration of phenolics. Subsequently, beet armyworm showed higher performance and preferentially fed on high-N corn because of its low defense traits. After beet armyworm feeding, high-N corn significantly deterred larval feeding, and had negative effects on the performance of beet armyworm through decreasing P:C ratio and increasing induced phenolics. On the contrary, there were no significant changes in P:C ratio and phenolics in low-N corn after feeding damage. Larval performance and preference were also not affected by induced compounds in low-N corn, which suggested that the expression of induced defense was dependent on N availability. The result indicates that N availability can exert a variety of bottom-up effect on plant defense patterns to influence insect population dynamics, and thereby may represent a source of variation in plant-insect interactions.
Details
- Title
- Corn defense responses to nitrogen availability and subsequent performance and feeding preferences of beet armyworm (Lepidoptera: Noctuidae)
- Authors/Creators
- L-L Ren (Author/Creator)G. Hardy (Author/Creator)Z-D Liu (Author/Creator)W. Wei (Author/Creator)H-G Dai (Author/Creator)
- Publication Details
- Journal of Economic Entomology, Vol.106(3), pp.1240-1249
- Publisher
- Entomological Society of America
- Identifiers
- 991005540713407891
- Copyright
- © 2013 Entomological Society of America
- Murdoch Affiliation
- School of Veterinary and Life Sciences
- Language
- English
- Resource Type
- Journal article
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- Collaboration types
- Domestic collaboration
- International collaboration
- Citation topics
- 3 Agriculture, Environment & Ecology
- 3.32 Entomology
- 3.32.54 Insect-Plant Interactions
- Web Of Science research areas
- Entomology
- ESI research areas
- Plant & Animal Science