| Title: | Nectar-Inhabiting Bacteria Affect Olfactory Responses of an Insect Parasitoid by Altering Nectar Odors |
| Author(s): | Cusumano A; Bella P; Peri E; Rostas M; Guarino S; Lievens B; Colazza S; |
| Address: | "Department of Agricultural, Food and Forest Sciences, University of Palermo Viale delle Scienze, Building 5, 90128, Palermo, Italy. Interuniversity Center for Studies on Bioinspired Agro-Environmental Technology (BATCenter), University of Napoli Federico II, 80055, Portici, Italy. Department of Agricultural, Food and Forest Sciences, University of Palermo Viale delle Scienze, Building 5, 90128, Palermo, Italy. ezio.peri@unipa.it. Interuniversity Center for Studies on Bioinspired Agro-Environmental Technology (BATCenter), University of Napoli Federico II, 80055, Portici, Italy. ezio.peri@unipa.it. Agricultural Entomology, Department of Crop Sciences, University of Gottingen, Grisebachstr. 6, 37077, Gottingen, Germany. Institute of Biosciences and Bioresources (IBBR), National Research Council of Italy (CNR), Corso Calatafimi 414, 90129, Palermo, Italy. Laboratory for Process Microbial Ecology and Bioinspirational Management (PME&BIM), Department of Microbial and Molecular Systems, Willem De Croylaan 46, Leuven, KU, 3001, Belgium. Leuven Plant Institute (LPI), Leuven, KU, 3001, Belgium" |
| DOI: | 10.1007/s00248-022-02078-6 |
| ISSN/ISBN: | 1432-184X (Electronic) 0095-3628 (Print) 0095-3628 (Linking) |
| Abstract: | "Floral nectar is ubiquitously colonized by a variety of microorganisms among which yeasts and bacteria are the most common. Microorganisms inhabiting floral nectar can alter several nectar traits, including nectar odor by producing microbial volatile organic compounds (mVOCs). Evidence showing that mVOCs can affect the foraging behavior of insect pollinators is increasing in the literature, whereas the role of mVOCs in altering the foraging behavior of third-trophic level organisms such as insect parasitoids is largely overlooked. Parasitoids are frequent visitors of flowers and are well known to feed on nectar. In this study, we isolated bacteria inhabiting floral nectar of buckwheat, Fagopyrum esculentum (Polygonales: Polygonaceae), to test the hypothesis that nectar bacteria affect the foraging behavior of the egg parasitoid Trissolcus basalis (Hymenoptera: Scelionidae) via changes in odors of nectar. In behavioral assays, we found that T. basalis wasps are attracted toward nectar fermented by 4 out of the 14 bacterial strains isolated, which belong to Staphylococcus epidermidis, Terrabacillus saccharophilus (both Firmicutes), Pantoea sp. (Proteobacteria), and Curtobacterium sp. (Actinobacteria). Results of chemical investigations revealed significant differences in the volatile blend composition of nectars fermented by the bacterial isolates. Our results indicate that nectar-inhabiting bacteria play an important role in the interactions between flowering plants and foraging parasitoids. These results are also relevant from an applied perspective as flowering resources, such as buckwheat, are largely used in agriculture to promote conservation biological control of insect pests" |
| Keywords: | Animals *Plant Nectar *Odorants Insecta Flowers Bacteria Pollination Conservation biological control Fagopyrum esculentum Nectar-associated microbes Parasitoid foraging behavior Trissolcus basalis; |
| Notes: | "MedlineCusumano, Antonino Bella, Patrizia Peri, Ezio Rostas, Michael Guarino, Salvatore Lievens, Bart Colazza, Stefano eng FFR_D13-2018/2021/Universita degli Studi di Palermo/ 2022/08/02 Microb Ecol. 2023 Jul; 86(1):364-376. doi: 10.1007/s00248-022-02078-6. Epub 2022 Aug 1" |
