Effect of previous feeding on antibiosis levels of soybeans

Abstract

The soybean aphid, Aphis glycines is documented to have arrived in North America in mid 2000 and has ever since established itself as a formidable pest of soybeans, with the capacity to cause immense crop losses. This formidable pest with its complex life cycle and habits represents a current threat to soybean production. Host plant resistance is a promising avenue that can offer considerable control over the soybean aphid problem. Antibiosis being the most effective host plant resistance category, this study was aimed at attempting to understand the effects of induction on the antibiosis levels of soybeans. In the first set of experiments, different soybean genotypes and two soybean aphid biotypes were tested to comprehend if and how the genotypes and biotypes affected the survival and reproduction of the aphid. The experiments revealed mixed results that can be attributed to the genotypes tested and the biotypes used. While some genotypes showed no significant changes due to previous infestation, K1621 suggested signs of induced resistance to biotype 1 and PI567301B showed induced resistance to biotype 2, while K1639 pointed towards induced susceptibility to biotype 2. A follow up feeding behavior study with Electrical Penetration Graph (EPG) technique was carried out on PI567301B to elucidate if the induced resistance was tissue-specific, which could affect the feeding behavior of the aphid (biotype 2); but the results showed no appreciable differences in the feeding behavior of the aphids on clean vs. infested plants. Induced response studies shed light on how plants respond to herbivory and help us identify how changes in plant physiology affect the various herbivores that visit it for food and shelter. This knowledge can thus be applied to the development of superior varieties of crops that can defend themselves better against recurring infestations.