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Feeding by the aphid Sipha flava produces a reddish spot on leaves of Sorghum halepense: An induced defense?

  • César Costa-Arbulú
  • , Ernesto Gianoli
  • , Wilfredo L. Gonzáles
  • , Hermann M. Niemeyer
  • Universidad de Chile

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

53 Scopus citations

Abstract

Feeding by the aphid Sipha flava produces a reddish spot on mature leaves of Sorghum halepense. The present work is aimed at determining whether this plant response entails induced resistance against the aphid. Old and young leaves showed the same response to aphid feeding (reddish coloration). Water-stressed plants displayed a similar reddish coloration to aphid-infested plants. This was verified by evaluation of absorbance peaks of the respective leaf extracts. Aphid fecundity was reduced on previously infested (and hence reddish colored) leaves. However, aphid fecundity was not affected on water stressed plants. Furthermore, aphid survival was not different on artificial diets containing increasing concentrations of the reddish pigment. It is concluded that the reddish spot is correlated with, but is not itself responsible for, the observed induced resistance of S. halepense against S. flava.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)273-283
Number of pages11
JournalJournal of Chemical Ecology
Volume27
Issue number2
DOIs
StatePublished - 2001
Externally publishedYes

Keywords

  • Anthocyanins
  • Aphids
  • Induced resistance
  • Induced responses
  • Sipha flava
  • Sorghum halepense

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