Effects of baculovirus-killed cadavers on plant defenses and insect behavior

Baculoviruses are a group of entomopathogenic viruses that are important natural enemies of insects, particularly lepidopteran larvae. An important component of baculovirus transmission efficiency is the frequency with which hosts encounter patchily distributed virions on plants. Little is known about the ecology and bacterial composition of virus-killed cadavers. We used a baculovirus and host Trichoplusia ni caterpillars to study the effects of virus-killed cadavers on tomato plant defenses and T. ni behavior. We also compared bacterial communities associated with virus-killed and uninfected (freeze-killed) cadavers and found that there was no significant difference in community composition and membership between tomato-fed virus-killed or freeze-killed cadavers. Comparison of virus-killed cadavers from two separate experiments revealed significant differences in bacterial community composition, suggesting that host plant could play a more important role in shaping bacterial communities than virus infection status. Culture-dependent plating indicated that virus-killed cadavers had significantly higher bacterial titers compared with uninfected cadavers. We found that virus-killed cadavers suppressed polyphenol oxidase activity, an important plant defense protein, in damaged plants, but not in plants damaged by herbivory. Although cadavers did not influence plant defenses induced by feeding damage inflicted by healthy or infected T. ni, this study provides the first evidence that baculoviruses could influence plant defenses through host cadavers. When applied to intact plants, neither virus-killed or freeze-killed cadavers influenced T. ni oviposition, larval choice, or larval consumption, indicating these insects did not discriminate cadaver cues. Virus-killed cadavers could play important roles in mediating interactions between plants, herbivores, and other trophic levels, with potential implications for viral transmission dynamics.

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Work Title Effects of baculovirus-killed cadavers on plant defenses and insect behavior
Subtitle Raw data for this publication
Access
Open Access
Creators
  1. Kelli Hoover
  2. Gary Felton
  3. Asher Jone
Keyword
  1. baculovirus
License CC BY-NC 4.0 (Attribution-NonCommercial)
Work Type Article
Acknowledgments
  1. Funding was provided by U.S. Department of Agriculture National Institute of Agriculture Grant 2017-67013-26596 to G.W.F. and K.H., National Science Foundation Grant IOS-1645548 to G.W.F. and K.H., Penn State University College of Agricultural Sciences Competitive Grant to A.G.J., U.S. Department of Agriculture Agricultural Experiment Station Multi-state Project NE2001: Harnessing Chemical Ecology to Address Agricultural Pests, and USDA Hatch Project Accession number 1021211 and Project Number PEN04728. This research used resources provided by the SCINet project and/or the AI Center of Excellence of the USDA Agricultural Research Service, ARS project numbers 0201-88888-003-000D and 0201-88888-002-000D. This research was supported in part by the U.S. Department of Agriculture, Agricultural Research Service project number 2040-22430-028-000-D.
Publisher
  1. Springer Nature
Publication Date January 2025
Subject
  1. multritrophic interactions
Language
  1. English
Publisher Identifier (DOI)
  1. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11829-024-10129-7
Deposited January 08, 2025

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    Keyword
    • baculovirus
    Subject
    • multritrophic interactions
    Language
    • English
    Publisher
    • Springer Nature
    Publisher Identifier (DOI)
    • https://doi.org/10.1007/s11829-024-10129-7
    Subtitle
    • Raw data for this publication
    Description
    • Baculoviruses are a group of entomopathogenic viruses that are important natural enemies of insects, particularly lepidopteran larvae. An important component of baculovirus transmission efficiency is the frequency with which hosts encounter patchily distributed virions on plants. Little is known about the ecology and bacterial composition of virus-killed cadavers. We used a baculovirus and host Trichoplusia ni caterpillars to study the effects of virus-killed cadavers on tomato plant defenses and T. ni behavior. We also compared bacterial communities associated with virus-killed and uninfected (freeze-killed) cadavers and found that there was no significant difference in community composition and membership between tomato-fed virus-killed or freeze-killed cadavers. Comparison of virus-killed cadavers from two separate experiments revealed significant differences in bacterial community composition, suggesting that host plant could play a more important role in shaping bacterial communities than virus infection status. Culture-dependent plating indicated that virus-killed cadavers had significantly higher bacterial titers compared with uninfected cadavers. We found that virus-killed cadavers suppressed polyphenol oxidase activity, an important plant defense protein, in damaged plants, but not in plants damaged by herbivory. Although cadavers did not influence plant defenses induced by feeding damage inflicted by healthy or infected T. ni, this study provides the first evidence that baculoviruses could influence plant defenses through host cadavers. When applied to intact plants, neither virus-killed or freeze-killed cadavers influenced T. ni oviposition, larval choice, or larval consumption, indicating these insects did not discriminate cadaver cues. Virus-killed cadavers could play important roles in mediating interactions between plants, herbivores, and other trophic levels, with potential implications for viral transmission dynamics.
    Publication Date
    • 2025-01
  • Added Creator Kelli Hoover
  • Added Creator Gary Felton
  • Added Creator Asher Jone
  • Added Raw data for Jones et al. 2025.JCE.xlsx
  • Updated Acknowledgments, License Show Changes
    Acknowledgments
    • Funding was provided by U.S. Department of Agriculture National Institute of Agriculture Grant 2017-67013-26596 to G.W.F. and K.H., National Science Foundation Grant IOS-1645548 to G.W.F. and K.H., Penn State University College of Agricultural Sciences Competitive Grant to A.G.J., U.S. Department of Agriculture Agricultural Experiment Station Multi-state Project NE2001: Harnessing Chemical Ecology to Address Agricultural Pests, and USDA Hatch Project Accession number 1021211 and Project Number PEN04728. This research used resources provided by the SCINet project and/or the AI Center of Excellence of the USDA Agricultural Research Service, ARS project numbers 0201-88888-003-000D and 0201-88888-002-000D. This research was supported in part by the U.S. Department of Agriculture, Agricultural Research Service project number 2040-22430-028-000-D.
    License
    • https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/
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