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Do aphid galls provide good nutrients for the aphids?: Comparisons of amino acid concentrations in galls among Tetraneura species (Aphididae: Eriosomatinae)

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Abstract

Some aphid species induce leaf galls, in which the fundatrix parthenogenetically produces many nymphs. In order to ensure high performance, galls have to provide the aphids with sufficient nutrients, in particular, amino acids as a nitrogen source. We tested this hypothesis using six Tetraneura aphid species that induce closed galls. We extracted free amino acids from the whole gall tissues of unit weight and quantified the concentration of each amino acid. There were large differences in the total amino acid concentrations among galls of the Tetraneura species. Tetraneura species in which higher concentrations of total amino acids were found in the gall tended to produce larger numbers of offspring. Of the amino acids found, asparagine was predominant in the gall. The asparagine concentration in T. yezoensis galls was several hundred times as high as in control leaves. We discussed why such a high level of asparagine accumulates in aphid galls.

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Acknowledgements

The authors thank Mr. Tomohiro Hirose, from the Hokkaido University Center for Instrumental Analysis, for technical support in the amino acids analysis. This research was supported by Grants-in-Aid (No. 12640673 and No. 17370028) for Scientific Research from the Japan Society for the Promotion of Science given to S.A. D.K.S. thanks the Ministry of Education, Science, Sports and Culture of Japan for a scholarship covering her studies in Hokkaido University.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Systematic Entomology, Faculty of Agriculture, Hokkaido University, Kita 9 nishi 9, Sapporo, 060-8589, Japan

    Débora K. Suzuki & Shin-ichi Akimoto

  2. Ecological Chemistry, Faculty of Agriculture, Hokkaido University, Sapporo, 060-8589, Japan

    Yukiharu Fukushi

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  1. Débora K. Suzuki
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  2. Yukiharu Fukushi
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  3. Shin-ichi Akimoto
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Correspondence to Débora K. Suzuki.

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Handling Editor: Graham Stone.

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Suzuki, D.K., Fukushi, Y. & Akimoto, Si. Do aphid galls provide good nutrients for the aphids?: Comparisons of amino acid concentrations in galls among Tetraneura species (Aphididae: Eriosomatinae). Arthropod-Plant Interactions 3, 241–247 (2009). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11829-009-9064-9

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