title: Mechanisms and evolution of plant resistance to aphids.
abstract: Aphids are important herbivores of both wild and cultivated plants. Plants rely on unique mechanisms of recognition, signalling and defence to cope with the specialized mode of phloem feeding by aphids. Aspects of the molecular mechanisms underlying aphid-plant interactions are beginning to be understood. Recent advances include the identification of aphid salivary proteins involved in host plant manipulation, and plant receptors involved in aphid recognition. However, a complete picture of aphid-plant interactions requires consideration of the ecological outcome of these mechanisms in nature, and the evolutionary processes that shaped them. Here we identify general patterns of resistance, with a special focus on recognition, phytohormonal signalling, secondary metabolites and induction of plant resistance. We discuss how host specialization can enable aphids to co-opt both the phytohormonal responses and defensive compounds of plants for their own benefit at a local scale. In response, systemically induced resistance in plants is common and often involves targeted responses to specific aphid species or even genotypes. As co-evolutionary adaptation between plants and aphids is ongoing, the stealthy nature of aphid feeding makes both the mechanisms and outcomes of these interactions highly distinct from those of other herbivore-plant interactions.
authors.affiliation: Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Cornell University, Ithaca, New York 14853, USA.
authors.forename: Tobias
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Züst
authors.affiliation: Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Cornell University, Ithaca, New York 14853, USA.
authors.forename: Anurag A
authors.initials: AA
authors.lastname: Agrawal
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001042:Aphids / Q000502:physiology*; D005075:Biological Evolution; D060467:Disease Resistance / Q000235:genetics*; D005838:Genotype; D060434:Herbivory; D006790:Host-Parasite Interactions; D010935:Plant Diseases / Q000276:immunology* / Q000469:parasitology; D010937:Plant Growth Regulators / Q000378:metabolism*; D010944:Plants / Q000235:genetics / Q000276:immunology* / Q000469:parasitology
chemical_list: D010937:Plant Growth Regulators