Pea aphids have an obligate nutritional symbiosis with the bacteria Buchneraaphidicola and frequently also harbor one or more facultative symbionts. Aphids are also susceptible to bacterial pathogen infections, and it has been suggested that aphids have a limited immune response towards such pathogen infections compared to other, more well-studied insects. However, aphids do possess at least so...

ABSTRACT- Several species of aphids cause severe damage to citrus in the north of Iran. Predatory insects play an important role in biological control of the pests in citrus orchards. In this study, potential predatory insects of citrus aphids, Aphis spiraecola, A. gossypii and Toxoptera aurantii, were identified and their seasonal population dynamics...

Aphids, among the most destructive insects to world agriculture, are mainly controlled by organophosphate insecticides that disable the catalytic serine residue of acetylcholinesterase (AChE). Because these agents also affect vertebrate AChEs, they are toxic to non-target species including humans and birds. We previously reported that a cysteine residue (Cys), found at the AChE active site in a...

Gene transfer among reproductively isolated organisms can lead to novel phenotypes and increased fitness. Among the Sternorrhyncha, a suborder of plant sap-feeding hemipteran insects, both aphids and adelgids acquired carotenoid biosynthesis genes from a fungal donor that result in ecologically relevant pigmentation. Phylloxerids form another family that are closely related to aphids and adelgi...

Angiotensin-converting enzymes (ACEs) are key components of the renin-angiotensin system in mammals. However, the function of ACE homologs in insect saliva is unclear. Aphids presumably deliver effector proteins via saliva into plant cells to maintain a compatible insect-plant interaction. In this study, we showed that ACE modulates aphid-plant interactions by affecting feeding behavior and sur...

Clonal organisms with occasional sex are important for our general understanding of the costs and benefits that maintain sexual reproduction. Cyclically parthenogenetic aphids are highly variable in their frequency of sexual reproduction. However, studies have mostly focused on free-living aphids above ground, whereas dispersal constraints and dependence on ant-tending may differentially affect...

Societal Impact Statement The Earth's population is projected to rise 9.7 billion by 2050 resulting in mounting pressure increase agricultural yields a sustainable manner. Arbuscular mycorrhizal (AM) fungi may be important players this transition given their capacity improve soil and plant health. Benefits gained crops hosting AM can cultivar-specific also affected insect herbivory, although th...

Studying plant-aphid interactions is challenging as aphid feeding is a complex process hidden in the plant tissue. Here we propose a combination of two well established methods to study nutrient acquisition by aphids focusing on the uptake of isotopically labelled nitrogen ((15)N). We combined the Electrical Penetration Graph (EPG) technique that allows detailed recording of aphid feeding behav...