Event Title
The effects of a key plant mutualism on plant responses to herbivory
Faculty Mentor
Caralyn Zehnder
Keywords
Caralyn Zehnder
Abstract
Plant-mediated interactions are when one herbivore induces changes in plant chemistry that then affect subsequent herbivores. We are interested in examining plant-mediated interactions in the soybean-kudzu bug system. Megacopta cribraria, commonly known as the kudzu bug, is an invasive pest to many economically important legumes in the Southeastern United States including Glycine max (soybeans). In our experiment, soybeans were grown in a greenhouse with half of the seedlings receiving the rhizobium inoculation treatment and half receiving no inoculation. Four weeks later, half of the plants from each rhizobuim treatment group were exposed to Megacopta cribraria herbivory for 72 hours. Then, leaves from each treatment group were fed to Spodoptera exigua larvae for 72 hours and the proportional change in biomass was measured for each caterpillar. Additionally, leaves were collected for phytochemical analysis including trypsin inhibitor, chitinase, and nitrogen concentrations. Root nodules were counted before the roots were dried and weighed for below ground biomass data. Root nodule results showed that the inoculation treatment was successful and preliminary results have found an interaction between inoculation with rhizobium and induced responses to herbivory. Official results are forthcoming.
Session Name:
Poster Presentation Session #2 - Poster #12
Start Date
4-4-2014 12:15 PM
End Date
4-4-2014 1:00 PM
Location
HSB 3rd Floor Student Commons
The effects of a key plant mutualism on plant responses to herbivory
HSB 3rd Floor Student Commons
Plant-mediated interactions are when one herbivore induces changes in plant chemistry that then affect subsequent herbivores. We are interested in examining plant-mediated interactions in the soybean-kudzu bug system. Megacopta cribraria, commonly known as the kudzu bug, is an invasive pest to many economically important legumes in the Southeastern United States including Glycine max (soybeans). In our experiment, soybeans were grown in a greenhouse with half of the seedlings receiving the rhizobium inoculation treatment and half receiving no inoculation. Four weeks later, half of the plants from each rhizobuim treatment group were exposed to Megacopta cribraria herbivory for 72 hours. Then, leaves from each treatment group were fed to Spodoptera exigua larvae for 72 hours and the proportional change in biomass was measured for each caterpillar. Additionally, leaves were collected for phytochemical analysis including trypsin inhibitor, chitinase, and nitrogen concentrations. Root nodules were counted before the roots were dried and weighed for below ground biomass data. Root nodule results showed that the inoculation treatment was successful and preliminary results have found an interaction between inoculation with rhizobium and induced responses to herbivory. Official results are forthcoming.