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Host Defense Metabolites Alter the Interactions between a Bark Beetle and its Symbiotic Fungi

  • Plant Microbe Interactions
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Abstract

Successful host plant colonization by tree-killing bark beetle-symbiotic fungal complexes depends on host suitability, which is largely determined by host defense metabolites such as monoterpenes. Studies have shown the ability of specific blends of host monoterpenes to influence bark beetles or their fungal symbionts, but how biologically relevant blends of host monoterpenes influence bark beetle-symbiotic fungal interaction is unknown. We tested how interactions between two host species (lodgepole pine or jack pine) and two fungal symbionts of mountain pine beetle (Grosmannia clavigera or Ophiostoma montium) affect the performance of adult female beetles in vitro. Beetles treated with the propagules of G. clavigera or O. montium or not treated (natural fungal load) were introduced into media amended with a blend of the entire monoterpene profile of either host species and beetle performance was compared. Overall, host blends altered beetle performance depending on the fungal species used in the beetle amendment. When beetles were amended with G. clavigera, their performance was superior over beetles amended with O. montium in either host blend. Furthermore, G. clavigera-amended beetles performed better in media amended with host blends than without a host blend; in contrast, O. montium-amended beetles performed better in media without a host blend than with a host blend. Overall, this study showed that host defense metabolites affect host suitability to bark beetles through influencing their fungal symbionts and that different species of fungal symbionts respond differentlly to host defense metabolites.

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Data Availability

Data will be available upon acceptance of the manuscript.

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Funding

This study was supported by NSERC-Discovery to NE.

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Author notes

  1. Vanessa Agbulu and Rashaduz Zaman contributed equally to this work.

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Renewable Resources, University of Alberta, Edmonton, AB, Canada

    Vanessa Agbulu, Rashaduz Zaman, Guncha Ishangulyyeva & N. Erbilgin

  2. Department of Biological Sciences, University of Alberta, Edmonton, AB, Canada

    Vanessa Agbulu & James F. Cahill

Authors
  1. Vanessa Agbulu
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  2. Rashaduz Zaman
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  3. Guncha Ishangulyyeva
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  4. James F. Cahill
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  5. N. Erbilgin
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Contributions

VA, JFC, and NE designed the experiment; VA, RZ, and GI developed protocols and conducted the experiment; NE and JFC analyzed the data; NE wrote the manuscript; all authors contributed to editing.

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Correspondence to N. Erbilgin.

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Agbulu, V., Zaman, R., Ishangulyyeva, G. et al. Host Defense Metabolites Alter the Interactions between a Bark Beetle and its Symbiotic Fungi. Microb Ecol 84, 834–843 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00248-021-01894-6

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00248-021-01894-6

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