Plant Volatile Methyl Salicylate Primes Wheat Defense Against the Grain Aphid by Altering the Synthesis of Defense Metabolites.

Wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) is one of the most important staple crops all over the world. Its productivity is adversely affected by aphid infestation.

Comprehensive sex- and tissue-specific transcriptome of the destructive invasive pest Tuta absoluta adults.

The South American tomato pinworm, Tuta absoluta (Meyrick) is a newly emerged invasive pests causing devastating loss on tomato production globally. Semiochemical-based management is a promising method for controlling this pest. However, there is little known about how T.

Gut bacteria facilitate leaf beetles in adapting to dietary specialization by enhancing larval fitness.

Dietary specialization between insect stages can reduce intraspecific food competition. The involvement of gut bacteria and the mechanisms underlying this phenomenon received limited attention. Plagiodera versicolora is a pest harming Salicaceae trees.

Pinewood nematode induced changes in the assembly process of gallery microbiomes benefit its vector beetle's development.

Microbiomes play crucial roles in insect adaptation, especially under stress such as pathogen invasion. Yet, how beneficial microbiomes assemble remains unclear. The wood-boring beetle , a major pest and vector of the pine wilt disease (PWD) nematode, offers a unique model.

Gut bacteria are essential for development of an invasive bark beetle by regulating glucose transport.

Insects and their gut bacteria form a tight and beneficial relationship, especially in utilization of host nutrients. The red turpentine beetle (RTB), a destructive and invasive pine pest, employs mutualistic microbes to facilitate its invasion success. However, the molecular mechanism underlying the utilization of nutrients remains unknown.

HcGr76 responds to fructose and chlorogenic acid and is involved in regulation of peptide expression in the midgut of Hyphantria cunea larvae.

Background: Sensing dietary components in the gut is important to ensure an appropriate hormonal response and metabolic regulation after food intake. The fall webworm, Hyphantria cunea, is a major invasive pest in China and has led to significant economic losses and ecosystem disruption. The larvae's broad host range and voracious appetite for leaves make H.

A near-complete genome assembly of Monochamus alternatus a major vector beetle of pinewood nematode.

The Japanese sawyer beetle, Monochamus alternatus, is not only one of the most important wood boring pest itself, but also a major vector of the invasive pinewood nematode (PWN), which is the causal agent of the devastative pine wilt disease (PWD) and threats the global pine forest. Here, we present a near-complete genome of M. alternatus at the chromosome level.

G-Protein Coupled Receptor Is Important for the Growth and Nutritional Metabolism of an Invasive Bark Beetle Symbiont Fungi .

has been demonstrated to play important roles in the invasive success of red turpentine beetle (RTB), one of the most destructive invasive pests in China. Our previous studies found that bacterial volatile ammonia plays an important role in the maintenance of the RTB- invasive complex. In this study, we found a GPCR gene that was a response to ammonia but not involved in the ammonia-induced carbohydrate metabolism.

Emerald Ash Borer Management and Research: Decades of Damage and Still Expanding.

Since the discovery of the ash tree ( spp.) killer emerald ash borer (EAB; ) in the United States in 2002 and Moscow, Russia in 2003, substantial detection and management efforts have been applied to contain and monitor its spread and mitigate impacts. Despite these efforts, the pest continues to spread within North America.

Plasticity of aggregation pheromones in insects.

Pheromone plasticity is widely observed in insects and enhances their survival, adaptation, and reproductive success. Aggregation pheromones, which cause notable individual aggregation and consequently impact agriculture and human life, are renowned for their special function. Here, we present a review of research progress regarding pheromone plasticity in three typical aggregative insects: locusts, bark beetles, and cockroaches.

Identification and functional analysis of odorant-binding proteins of the parasitoid wasp Scleroderma guani reveal a chemosensory synergistic evolution with the host Monochamus alternatus.

Scleroderma guani is a generalist ectoparasitoid of wood-boring insects. The chemosensory genes expressed in its antennae play crucial roles in host-seeking. In the present study, we identified 14 OBP genes for the first time from the antennae transcriptomes and genomic data of S.

Effects of simulated gut pH environment on bacterial composition and pheromone production of Dendroctonus valens.

Bark beetles are an economically and ecologically important insect group, with aggregation behavior and thus host colonization success depends on pheromone-mediated communication. For some species, such as the major invasive forest pest in China, red turpentine beetle (Dendroctonus valens), gut microbiota participates in pheromone production by converting tree monoterpenes into pheromone products. However, how variation in gut microenvironment, such as pH, affects the gut microbial composition, and consequently pheromone production, is unknown.

A chemical signal that promotes insect survival via thermogenesis.

Cold-activated thermogenesis of brown adipose tissues (BAT) is vital for the survival of animals under cold stress and also inhibits the development of tumours. The development of small-molecule tools that target thermogenesis pathways could lead to novel therapies against cold, obesity, and even cancer. Here, we identify a chemical signal that is produced in beetles in the winter to activate fat thermogenesis.

Hypoxia-induced tracheal elasticity in vector beetle facilitates the loading of pinewood nematode.

Many pathogens rely on their insect vectors for transmission. Such pathogens are under selection to improve vector competence for their transmission by employing various tissue or cellular responses of vectors. However, whether pathogens can actively cause hypoxia in vectors and exploit hypoxia responses to promote their vector competence is still unknown.

Symbiotic microbes aid host adaptation by metabolizing a deterrent host pine carbohydrate d-pinitol in a beetle-fungus invasive complex.

The red turpentine beetle (RTB) is one of the most destructive invasive pests in China and solely consumes pine phloem containing high amounts of d-pinitol. Previous studies reported that d-pinitol exhibits deterrent effects on insects. However, it remains unknown how insects overcome d-pinitol during their host plant adaptation.

The effect of inactivation of aldehyde dehydrogenase on pheromone production by a gut bacterium of an invasive bark beetle, Dendroctonus valens.

Semiochemical-based management strategies are important for controlling bark beetles, such as invasive Red Turpentine Beetle (Denroctonus valens), the causal agent for mass mortality of pine trees (Pinus spp.) in China. It has been previously shown that the pheromone verbenone regulates the attack density of this beetle in a dose-dependent manner and that the gut bacteria of D.

Chromosome-level genome assembly and population genomic analyses provide insights into adaptive evolution of the red turpentine beetle, Dendroctonus valens.

Background: Biological invasions are responsible for substantial environmental and economic losses. The red turpentine beetle (RTB), Dendroctonus valens LeConte, is an important invasive bark beetle from North America that has caused substantial tree mortality in China. The lack of a high-quality reference genome seriously limits deciphering the extent to which genetic adaptions resulted in a secondary pest becoming so destructive in its invaded area.

Microhabitat Governs the Microbiota of the Pinewood Nematode and Its Vector Beetle: Implication for the Prevalence of Pine Wilt Disease.

Our understanding of environmental acquisition of microbes and migration-related alteration of microbiota across habitats has rapidly increased. However, in complex life cycles, such as for many parasites, exactly how these microbes are transmitted across multiple environments, such as hosts and habitats, is unknown. Pinewood nematode, the causal agent of the globally devastating pine wilt disease, provides an ideal model to study the role of microbiota in multispecies interactions because its successful host invasion depends on the interactions among its vector insects, pine hosts, and associated microbes.

Invasion History of the Pinewood Nematode Influences the Abundance of sp. in Pupal Chambers and Tracheae of Insect-Vector .

Pine wilt disease (PWD) has caused extensive mortality in pine forests worldwide. This disease is a result of a multi-species interaction among an invasive pinewood nematode (PWN) , its vector sp. beetle, and the host pine tree ( sp.

A trail pheromone mediates the mutualism between ants and aphids.

Mutualisms, such as the ones between ants and aphids, evolve and persist when benefits outweigh the costs from the interactions between the partners. We show here that the trail pheromone of the red imported fire ant, Solenopsis invicta, can enhance these benefits by suppressing aphid dispersal and stimulating their reproduction. The ant's mutualistic partner, the cotton aphid Aphis gossypii, was found to readily perceive and respond to two specific trail pheromone components.

Preinvasion Assessment of Exotic Bark Beetle-Vectored Fungi to Detect Tree-Killing Pathogens.

Exotic diseases and pests of trees have caused continental-scale disturbances in forest ecosystems and industries, and their invasions are considered largely unpredictable. We tested the concept of preinvasion assessment of not yet invasive organisms, which enables empirical risk assessment of potential invasion and impact. Our example assesses fungi associated with Old World bark and ambrosia beetles and their potential to impact North American trees.