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Plant–rhizobia interactions alter aphid honeydew composition

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Abstract

Both above- and below-ground interspecific interactions contribute to ecosystem functioning in terrestrial systems, and the integration of below- and above-ground interactions is crucial for deepening our knowledge of nutrient cycling and community dynamics in terrestrial ecosystems. The present study explored the effects of plant–microbe interactions on aphid honeydew quality and quantity and important factors mediating ant–aphid mutualisms and below-ground nutrient dynamics. Soybean aphids (Aphis glycines) were inoculated onto two closely related strains of soybean plants: a nodulating strain that associates with rhizobia and a non-nodulating strain that does not harbor any nitrogen-fixing bacteria. As expected, prior to aphid inoculation, nodulating plants were significantly taller and had more leaves than non-nodulating plants. Aphids feeding on nodulating strains were found to reach slightly larger colony sizes and produce honeydew with significantly different sugar profiles than those feeding on non-nodulating plants. The honeydew collected from aphid colonies feeding on nodulating plants contained 160 % more total sugars than honeydew collected from colonies feeding on non-nodulating plants, but there was no difference in total amino acid-N content in honeydew from colonies feeding on the different plant strains. We discuss the implications of honeydew composition for nutrient cycling and community dynamics and suggest areas of future research to elucidate the consequences of altered aphid honeydew composition on ecosystem properties.

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Acknowledgments

Sincere gratitude is extended to Koya Hashimoto and Masami Kimura for their support and assistance. Early versions of the manuscript were greatly improved by comments from Heather Dwyer. This work was funded by a Japan Society for the Promotion of Science and National Science Foundation EAPSI award (OISE-1108405) award to MRLW.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Ecology and Evolution, University of California, Davis, 1 Shields Avenue, Davis, CA, USA

    Melissa R. L. Whitaker

  2. Organismic and Evolutionary Biology, Harvard University, 28 Oxford Street, Cambridge, MA, USA

    Melissa R. L. Whitaker

  3. Center for Ecological Research, Kyoto University, 3-509 Hirano 2-chome, Otsu, Shiga, 520-2113, Japan

    Noboru Katayama & Takayuki Ohgushi

  4. Field Science Center for Northern Biosphere, Hokkaido University, Toikanbetsu 131, Horonobe-cho, Hokkaido, 098-2943, Japan

    Noboru Katayama

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  1. Melissa R. L. Whitaker
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  2. Noboru Katayama
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  3. Takayuki Ohgushi
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Correspondence to Noboru Katayama.

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Handling Editor: Gary Felton.

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Whitaker, M.R.L., Katayama, N. & Ohgushi, T. Plant–rhizobia interactions alter aphid honeydew composition. Arthropod-Plant Interactions 8, 213–220 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11829-014-9304-5

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