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Author Spotlight: Advancing Stomatal Research with Automated Aperture Measurement
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Plant stomatal closure improves aphid feeding under elevated CO2.
Yucheng Sun1, Huijuan Guo1, Liang Yuan1
1State Key Laboratory of Integrated Management of Pest Insects and Rodents, Institute of Zoology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China.
Global Change Biology
|January 13, 2015
Summary
Aphids trigger plant stomatal closure, improving water status and feeding. Elevated CO2 further enhances these effects, increasing aphid abundance and fitness on host plants.
Area of Science:
- Plant Physiology
- Insect-Plant Interactions
- Environmental Change Biology
Background:
- Stomata regulate plant gas exchange and water status in response to environmental cues like elevated CO2.
- Elevated CO2 impacts insect performance, but effects mediated by host plant water status changes are less understood.
- Aphids are phloem-feeding insects that can influence host plant physiology.
Purpose of the Study:
- To test if aphids induce stomatal closure, enhancing host water potential for improved feeding.
- To investigate if elevated CO2 amplifies aphid-induced changes in stomatal aperture and plant water status.
- To determine the combined effects of aphid infestation and elevated CO2 on aphid fitness.
Main Methods:
- Investigated aphid infestation effects on stomatal aperture and leaf water potential in Medicago truncatula.
- Assessed the role of abscisic acid (ABA) signaling in aphid-induced stomatal closure.
- Examined the impact of elevated CO2 on stomatal regulation and carbonic anhydrase activity in infested plants.
Main Results:
- Aphid infestation induced stomatal closure via ABA signaling, reducing transpiration and maintaining leaf water potential.
- Elevated CO2 further decreased stomatal aperture in aphid-infested plants, partly through an ABA-independent pathway (carbonic anhydrase).
- Enhanced host plant water status increased aphid xylem-feeding time, decreased hemolymph osmolarity, and boosted phloem-feeding, leading to higher aphid abundance.
Conclusions:
- Aphid infestation synergistically improves host plant water status under elevated CO2 conditions.
- Elevated CO2 enhances the positive effects of aphid infestation on aphid feeding and abundance.
- Plant responses to aphid feeding are modulated by atmospheric CO2 levels, impacting insect fitness.
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