The effect of co-infestation by conspecific and heterospecific aphids on the feeding behaviour of Nasonovia ribisnigri on resistant and susceptible lettuce cultivars

Abstract

Aphid saliva can suppress the blocking of sieve elements, a reaction that plants employ to inhibit aphid feeding, but aphid saliva can also elicit plant defence responses. Such plant responses might affect interactions between different aphid species and intraspecifically, e.g. among different biotypes. The objectives of our study were to investigate if feeding behaviour and performance of two biotypes of the lettuce aphid Nasonovia ribisnigri are affected by (1) feeding by the other biotype and (2) feeding by the green peach aphid Myzus persicae or the potato aphid Macrosiphum euphorbiae. Additionally the effect of feeding in a group was studied. All experiments were performed on both a resistant and an isogenic susceptible lettuce cultivar. Feeding or probing by conspecific or heterospecific aphids had different effects on Nasonovia ribisnigri biotypes. Aphids were only slightly affected by feeding or probing of the same biotype on both susceptible and resistant lettuce. N. ribisnigri virulent biotype Nr:1 suppressed the resistance against Nr:0 in the resistant cultivar. In contrast, defence was induced by Nr:1 against Nr:0 in susceptible lettuce. Co-infestation by M. euphorbiae and M. persicae had minor effects on Nr:0. Defence against Nr:1 was induced on both susceptible lettuce and resistant lettuce by Nr:0 and M. euphorbiae. Additionally, M. persicae induced defence in resistant lettuce against Nr:1. Effectors in the saliva of Nr:1 aphids are likely responsible for the defence suppression in lettuce. Identification of these effectors could lead to a better understanding of the mechanism of virulence in N. ribisnigri.