title: Bt rice does not disrupt the host-searching behavior of the parasitoid Cotesia chilonis.
abstract: We determined whether plant volatiles help explain why Cotesia chilonis (a parasitoid of the target pest Chilo suppressalis) is less abundant in Bt than in non-Bt rice fields. Olfactometer studies revealed that C. chilonis females responded similarly to undamaged Bt and non-Bt rice plants. Parasitoids preferred rice plants damaged by 3(rd)-instar larvae of C. suppressalis, but did not differentiate between caterpillar-infested Bt and non-Bt plants. According to GC-MS analyses of rice plant volatiles, undamaged Bt and non-Bt rice plants emitted the same number of volatile compounds and there were no significant differences in the quantity of each volatile compound between the treatments. When plants were infested with and damaged by C. suppressalis larvae, both Bt and non-Bt rice plants emitted higher numbers and larger amounts of volatile compounds than undamaged plants, but there were no significant differences between Bt and non-Bt plants. These results demonstrate that the volatile-mediated interactions of rice plants with the parasitoid C. chilonis were not disrupted by the genetic engineering of the plants. We infer that parasitoid numbers are lower in Bt than in non-Bt fields because damage and volatile induction by C. suppressalis larvae are greatly reduced in Bt fields.
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory for Biology of Plant Diseases and Insect Pests, Institute of Plant Protection, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Beijing, China.
authors.forename: Qingsong
authors.initials: Q
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory for Biology of Plant Diseases and Insect Pests, Institute of Plant Protection, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Beijing, China.|Agroscope, Institute for Sustainability Sciences ISS, Zurich, Switzerland.
authors.forename: Jörg
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Romeis
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory for Biology of Plant Diseases and Insect Pests, Institute of Plant Protection, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Beijing, China.
authors.forename: Huilin
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Yu
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory for Biology of Plant Diseases and Insect Pests, Institute of Plant Protection, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Beijing, China.
authors.forename: Yongjun
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory for Biology of Plant Diseases and Insect Pests, Institute of Plant Protection, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Beijing, China.
authors.forename: Yunhe
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Li
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory for Biology of Plant Diseases and Insect Pests, Institute of Plant Protection, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Beijing, China.
authors.forename: Yufa
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Peng
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001070:Appetitive Behavior / Q000502:physiology; D001413:Bacillus thuringiensis / Q000235:genetics; D001426:Bacterial Proteins / Q000235:genetics; D005260:Female; D008401:Gas Chromatography-Mass Spectrometry; D006790:Host-Parasite Interactions / Q000502:physiology*; D006927:Hymenoptera / Q000254:growth & development / Q000502:physiology*; D007814:Larva / Q000469:parasitology; D009036:Moths / Q000469:parasitology; D009812:Odorants; D012275:Oryza / Q000737:chemistry / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*; D018515:Plant Leaves / Q000737:chemistry / Q000378:metabolism / Q000469:parasitology; D030821:Plants, Genetically Modified / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*; D055549:Volatile Organic Compounds / Q000032:analysis
chemical_list: D001426:Bacterial Proteins; D055549:Volatile Organic Compounds