Project description:The role of plant-derived food sources in plant-herbivore-carnivore interactions is an essential topic in basic ecology, and it is directly linked to the applied discipline of biological pest control. Honeydew, which phloem-feeding hemipteran insects excrete, constitutes a rich source of carbohydrates and proteins for beneficial insects in ecosystems. However, the quality of this plant-derived food source depends on its composition. Here we demonstrated that plant proteins in honeydew increase the fitness of a parasitic wasp (member of the third-trophic level).
Project description:Plant compensatory responses depends on transcriptional reprogramming. We used microarray analysis to understand the differential gene expression pattern between clipped (herbivore browsed) and unclipped plant. Arabidopsis ecotypes Columbia and Landsberg erecta were chosen due to their differential compensatory response. The plants were grown in greenhouse. At bolting stage the plants were clipped to imitate herbivore damage. Following day the samples were collected from clipped and unclipped plants.
Project description:Plant compensatory responses depends on transcriptional reprogramming. We used microarray analysis to understand the differential gene expression pattern between clipped (herbivore browsed) and unclipped plant.
2013-03-02 | GSE44781 | GEO
Project description:Soil food webs across biotic complexity levels
| PRJNA1357666 | ENA
Project description:Cobamide-producing microbes within soil food webs
Project description:It is widely accepted that in many food webs, the trophic transfer efficiency among primary producers and herbivores is determined by the nutritional value of primary producers. In pelagic freshwater and marine ecosystems, secondary production by herbivorous crustacean zooplankton is often limited by the seston's content of essential ω3 polyunsaturated fatty acids (ω3 PUFAs). However, little is known about the genetic network behind the positive relationship between phytoplankton ω3 PUFA content and zooplankton growth and reproduction. In our experimental study, we analysed gene expression changes of the freshwater cladoceran Daphnia magna under different food regimes differing in their ω3 PUFA composition. To disentangle ω3 PUFA effects from other factors, we fed D. magna with different pure phytoplankton cultures (i.e., algal and cyanobacterial diets) with or without supplementing the essential ω3 PUFA eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA). As hypothesized, we observed enhanced growth on diets supplemented with EPA. We applied an Illumina RNA-seq approach to D. magna from different diet treatments to find and monitor genes that are regulated dependent on EPA availability. Of 26,646 potential protein products (mapped to the D. magna genome), we identified transcriptomic signatures driven by the different food sources. Further analyses revealed specific candidate genes involved in EPA metabolism, irrespective of the basal food source. This allows a first functional annotation of previously uncharacterized genes involved in the EPA-specific response of D. magna and may finally provide a link to molecular processes connected to ω3 PUFA metabolism and conversion and thus trophic transfer efficiency in pelagic food webs.
