Do aphids in Dutch sweet pepper greenhouses carry heritable elements that protect them against biocontrol parasitoids?

ABSTRACT: Biological control (biocontrol) of crop pests is a sustainable alternative to the use of biodiversity and organismal health-harming chemical pesticides. Aphids can be biologically controlled with parasitoid wasps; however, variable results of parasitoid-based aphid biocontrol in greenhouses are reported. Aphids may display genetically encoded (endogenous) defences that increase aphid resistance against parasitoids as under high parasitoid pressure there will be selection for parasitoid-resistant aphids, potentially affecting the success of parasitoid-based aphid biocontrol in greenhouses. Additionally, aphids may carry secondary bacterial endosymbionts that protect them against parasitoids. We studied whether there is variation in either of these heritable elements in aphids in greenhouses

SUBMITTER: Beekman MM 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC9624084 | biostudies-literature | 2022 Oct

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature