Endophytic Colonization by the Entomopathogenic Fungus Beauveria Bassiana Affects Plant Volatile Emissions in the Presence or Absence of Chewing and Sap-Sucking Insects

Natalia González-Mas; Fernando Gutiérrez-Sánchez; Araceli Sánchez-Ortiz; Luca Grandi; Ted C J Turlings; José Manuel Muñoz-Redondo; José Manuel Moreno-Rojas; Enrique Quesada-Moraga

doi:10.3389/fpls.2021.660460

Endophytic Colonization by the Entomopathogenic Fungus Beauveria Bassiana Affects Plant Volatile Emissions in the Presence or Absence of Chewing and Sap-Sucking Insects

Front Plant Sci. 2021 Jul 26:12:660460. doi: 10.3389/fpls.2021.660460. eCollection 2021.

Authors

Natalia González-Mas¹, Fernando Gutiérrez-Sánchez¹, Araceli Sánchez-Ortiz², Luca Grandi³, Ted C J Turlings³, José Manuel Muñoz-Redondo⁴, José Manuel Moreno-Rojas⁴, Enrique Quesada-Moraga¹

Affiliations

¹ Departamento de Agronomía, Escuela Técnica Superior de Ingeniería Agronómica y de Montes (ETSIAM), Universidad de Córdoba, ceiA3, Campus Rabanales, Córdoba, Spain.
² Department of Food Science and Health, Andalusian Institute of Agricultural and Fisheries Research and Training (IFAPA), Ctr Venta del Llano, Jaén, Spain.
³ Fundamental and Applied Research in Chemical Ecology (FARCE Lab), Institute of Biology, University of Neuchâtel, Neuchâtel, Switzerland.
⁴ Department of Food Science and Health, Andalusian Institute of Agricultural and Fisheries Research and Training (IFAPA), Alameda del Obispo, Córdoba, Spain.

Abstract

Entomopathogenic fungi are gaining acceptance in Integrated Pest Management (IPM) systems as effective and environmental safety biological control agents to protect a great variety of crops against pest insects. Many of these insect-pathogenic fungi can establish themselves as endophytes and thereby may induce the plant immune system. The activation of plant defenses by the fungal endophytic colonization can have a direct impact on herbivores and plant pathogens. An integral component of many plant defense responses is also the release of volatile organic compounds, which may serve as an indirect defense by attracting the natural enemies of herbivores. Here we investigated the effect of endophytic colonization by the entomopathogenic fungus Beauveria bassiana on the volatile emission by melon and cotton plants, either unharmed or after being damaged by sap-sucking aphids or leaf chewing caterpillars. We found that when the plants are colonized by B. bassiana they emit a different blend of volatile compounds compared to uncolonized control plants. Some of the emitted compounds have been reported previously to be released in response to herbivory and have been implicated in natural enemy attraction. Several of the compounds are also known to have antimicrobial properties. Therefore, endophytic colonization by B. bassiana might help to not only direct control insect pests but also increase the resistance of plants against agronomically important pests and phytopathogens.

Keywords: Aphis gossypii; Spodoptera frugiperda; Spodoptera littoralis; cotton; endophyte; melon; plant-mediated interaction; volatile organic compounds.