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Diversity
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Plant-Insect-Microbe Interactions and Diversity
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Plant-Insect-Microbe Interactions and Diversity

A special issue of Diversity (ISSN 1424-2818). This special issue belongs to the section "Plant Diversity".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 15 May 2024 | Viewed by 4194

Special Issue Editor

Dr. Paul A. Ayayee

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Department of Biology, University of Nebraska-Omaha, Omaha, NE 68182, USA
Interests: entomology; ecology; environmental microbiology;evolution

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

The last two to three decades have unearthed a myriad examples of the nature, function, and relevance of plant–insect–microbe interactions from various study systems ranging from agroecosystems (crop and storage insects pests) to forestry (specialist and generalist insect tree pests). The enhanced insights into plant–insect–microbe interactions can be attributed to technological advances in sequencing strategies, sophisticated experimental set-ups to tease apart relative contributions of each component in the tripartite interactions, and the availability of methods to ascertain respective functions. Emerging areas of interest in this research field include but are not limited to: (i) the role of insect bacteria (particularly gut microbes) in mediating host plant shifts by insect pests (crop or storage pests), (ii) exploration of plant–insect–microbe interactions in aquatic systems, and (iii) possible biological control of insect pests mediated via novel/emerging tools targeting aspects of plant–insect–microbe dynamics (use of bacteriophages). Therefore, we are soliciting submissions detailing original basic and applied research covering the emerging foci listed to further our understanding of these aspects going forward. In this regard, we welcome novel, risky, and unorthodox submissions to the existing canon. We invite submissions in this Special Issue that challenge and break new grounds (technological and conceptual), ultimately advancing the work in this field.

Dr. Paul A. Ayayee
Guest Editor

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Diversity is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2600 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • plant-insect-microbes
  • gut microbiome
  • biological control
  • bacteriophage

Published Papers (2 papers)

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Research

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10 pages, 1354 KiB  
Article
Influence of Microbes in Mediating Sorghum Resistance to Sugarcane Aphids
by Edith Ikuze, Stephanie Cromwell, Paul Ayayee and Joe Louis
Diversity 2024, 16(2), 85; https://doi.org/10.3390/d16020085 - 27 Jan 2024
Viewed by 1075
Abstract
Gut microbiomes profoundly influence insect health and mediate interactions between plant hosts and their environments. Insects, including aphids, harbour diverse obligate symbionts that synthesize essential nutrients and facultative symbionts that enhance host fitness in specific ecological contexts. Sorghum (Sorghum bicolor) is [...] Read more.
Gut microbiomes profoundly influence insect health and mediate interactions between plant hosts and their environments. Insects, including aphids, harbour diverse obligate symbionts that synthesize essential nutrients and facultative symbionts that enhance host fitness in specific ecological contexts. Sorghum (Sorghum bicolor) is a significant cereal crop cultivated worldwide that has been negatively affected by the presence of an invasive piercing-sucking insect pest, the sugarcane aphid (SCA; Melanaphis sacchari). We previously identified SC265 and SC1345 as the resistant and susceptible sorghum lines, respectively, among the founder nested association mapping (NAM) population. Here, using these resistant and susceptible lines, we explored variations in the SCA gut microbiome when they feed on two different sorghum lines with varied resistance levels. Analyses after excluding the obligate endosymbiont Buchnera aphidicola from the dataset showed a significant difference in microbial diversity and composition between resistant and susceptible sorghum lines 7- and 14 days post aphid infestation. Our results indicate that the SCA fed on susceptible and resistant sorghum lines had Pseudomonadaceae and Rhizobiaceae, respectively, as the most abundant bacterial families. Differences in gut microbial community composition were underscored by alpha diversity metrics and beta diversity compositional analyses. These findings contribute to our understanding of the intricate interplay between plant and aphid microbiomes, shedding light on potential avenues to bolster sorghum resistance to SCA. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Plant-Insect-Microbe Interactions and Diversity)
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Review

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17 pages, 363 KiB  
Review
The Known and Unknowns of Aphid Biotypes, and Their Role in Mediating Host Plant Defenses
by Neetu Khanal, Christopher Vitek and Rupesh Kariyat
Diversity 2023, 15(2), 186; https://doi.org/10.3390/d15020186 - 29 Jan 2023
Cited by 1 | Viewed by 2477
Abstract
Insect species are subjected to disparate selection pressure due to various biotic and abiotic stresses. Management practices including the heavy use of chemical insecticides and introduction of insect-resistant plant cultivars have been found to accelerate these processes. Clearly, natural selection coupled with human [...] Read more.
Insect species are subjected to disparate selection pressure due to various biotic and abiotic stresses. Management practices including the heavy use of chemical insecticides and introduction of insect-resistant plant cultivars have been found to accelerate these processes. Clearly, natural selection coupled with human intervention have led to insect adaptations that alter phenotypes and genetic structure over time, producing distinct individuals with specialized traits, within the populations, commonly defined as biotypes. Biotypes are commonly found to have better fitness in the new environment and, in the case of aphids, the most commonly studied system for biotypes, have the ability to successfully infest previously resistant host plants and new species of host plants. Although a large number of studies have explored biotypes, the concept for defining biotypes varies among scientists, as we lack a consistency in estimating biotype behavior and their variation within and between biotypes. The concept of biotypes is even more complicated in aphid species (Aphidoidea), as they undergo parthenogenetic reproduction, making it difficult to understand the source of variation or quantify gene flow. In this review, we aim to illuminate the concept of biotype and how it has been used in the study of aphids. We intend to further elaborate and document the existence of aphid biotypes using sugarcane aphid (Melanaphis sacchari) as a model to understand their differences, level of variation, evolution, and significance in pest management. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Plant-Insect-Microbe Interactions and Diversity)
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