Prof. Dr. Ian T. Baldwin
Microbial mediation of plant-herbivore interactions
Abstract:
The co-evolutionary interactions between plants and their insect
herbivores were thought to be mediated by the plant and insect genomes,
but upon deeper analysis it is now clear that both eucaryotic players
are "Trogen horses" for microbial communities that may play decisive
roles in the outcome of the interaction. The best documented example
to date are the microbial endosymbionts that are housed in the mycetocyes
of aphids and perform essential functions for the phloem-feeding
lifestyle of aphids. Microbial communities in both the plants and
herbivores can influence the signaling and the responses of plants
to the attack from insects. This project will focus on the characterization
of the microbial communities present in the guts of Manduca sexta
larvae that feed on host plants which differ in their expression
of various plant defense metabolites. In the Department of Molecular
Ecology at the MPI-COE we have genetically transformed the host-plant
of M. sexta, Nicotiana attenuata, to alter the accumulation
of alkaloids, phenolics, defensive proteins and oxylipins. These
plants will be used as food for Manduca sexta larvae and
the larval gut microbial communities will be characterized to determine
whether these plant defenses may in fact have evolved to target
the microbial partners of insect herbivores, rather than the insects
themselves.
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