Olfactory responses of the whitefly Bemisia tabaci and its parasitoid Eretmocerus hayati to tobacco infected by theTomato yellow leaf curl Chinavirus
Author of the article:PAN Deng1, 2 ， LI Yuan-Xi2 ， LUAN Jun-Bo1 ， LIU Shu-Sheng1 ， LIU Yin-Quan1**
Author's Workplace：1. Key Laboratory of Agricultural Entomology of Ministry of Agriculture, Institute of Insect Sciences, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou 310058, China; 2. Department of Entomology, College of Plant Protection, Nanjing Agricultural University, Nanjing 210095, Chi
Key Words： Tomato yellow leaf curlChinavirus, Bemisia tabaci, Eretmocerus hayati, olfactory response, plant-virus-vector-natural enemy interactions
Abstract：
Begomoviruses can manipulate host plants to promote the population growth of the whitefly vector Bemisia tabaci (Gennadius). However, olfactory responses of the whitefly and its parasitoids to virus-infected plants have not been explored. [Objectives and Methods] In this study, we used a Y shape olfactometer to investigate the influence of the Tomato yellow leaf curl China virus (TYLCCNV) on olfactory responses of the whitefly and its parasitoid, Eretmocerus hayati (Zolnerowich and Rose). [Results and Conclusion] The results show that B. tabaci and its parasitoid preferred TYLCCNV-infected tobacco plants to non-viruliferous plants. However, this preference declined somewhat when tobacco plants were simultaneously infested by the virus and the whitefly. To our knowledge, this is the first evidence that begomovirus-infection can increase the attractiveness of plants to both the virus vector B. tabaci and this vector’s parasitoid. The function and mechanisms of this attraction are discussed.