Aphid genotypes vary in their response to the presence of fungal endosymbionts in host plants

Genetic variation for fitness-relevant traits may be maintained in natural populations by fitness differences that depend on environmental conditions. For herbivores, plant quality and variation in chemical plant defences can maintain genetic variation in performance. Apart from plant secondary comp...

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Published in:	Journal of evolutionary biology Vol. 22; no. 8; pp. 1775 - 1780
Main Authors:	BIERI, A.P.S, HÄRRI, S.A, VORBURGER, C, MÜLLER, C.B
Format:	Journal Article
Language:	English
Published:	Oxford, UK Oxford, UK : Blackwell Publishing Ltd 01-08-2009 Blackwell Publishing Ltd
Subjects:	Animals Aphididae Aphids - genetics Aphids - microbiology Endophytic fungi Festuca arundinacea Fungi Fungi - physiology Genetic diversity Genotype Genotype & phenotype genotype-environment interaction Herbivores herbivory Host-Parasite Interactions Insects life history evolution Lolium Lolium - microbiology Lolium - parasitology microbes microorganisms mutualism Neotyphodium coenophialum Plant biology Plant-herbivore interaction Rhopalosiphum padi Symbiosis tall fescue trade-offs
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Summary:	Genetic variation for fitness-relevant traits may be maintained in natural populations by fitness differences that depend on environmental conditions. For herbivores, plant quality and variation in chemical plant defences can maintain genetic variation in performance. Apart from plant secondary compounds, symbiosis between plants and endosymbiotic fungi (endophytes) can produce herbivore-toxic compounds. We show that there is significant variation among aphid genotypes in response to endophytes by comparing life-history traits of 37 clones of the bird cherry-oat aphid Rhopalosiphum padi feeding on endophyte-free and endophyte-infected tall fescue Lolium arundinaceum. Clonal variation for life-history traits was large, and most clones performed better on endophyte-free plants. However, the clones differed in the relative performance across the two environments, resulting in significant genotype x environment interactions for all reproductive traits. These findings suggest that natural variation in prevalence of endophyte infection can contribute to the maintenance of genetic diversity in aphid populations.
Bibliography:	http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/j.1420-9101.2009.01788.x Deceased. ObjectType-Article-2 SourceType-Scholarly Journals-1 ObjectType-Feature-1 content type line 23
ISSN:	1010-061X 1420-9101
DOI:	10.1111/j.1420-9101.2009.01788.x