Induktion von Pflanzendüften durch Eiablage von Insekteneiern auf Ulme (Ulmus camprestis): Aufklärung eines ökologischen Phänomens unter Verwendung molekularer Methoden und genetischer Transformation

• Antragsteller: Dr. Torsten Meiners
• Fachliche Zuordnung: Organismische Interaktionen, chemische Ökologie und Mikrobiome pflanzlicher Systeme
• Förderung: Förderung von 2004 bis 2011
• Projektkennung: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Projektnummer 5431310

It has been known for some years that many plants respond to herbivore feeding by releasing volatile compounds which attract enemies of the herbivores. However, there are many unanswered questions regarding the induction, regulation, specificity, and natural function of these indirect defences. We have shown recently that the European field elm (Ulmus campestris) releases volatiles in response to insect herbivores before actual herbivory has even begun, namely after egg deposition by elm leaf beetles (Xanthogaleruca luteola). Leaves in the vicinity of the deposited eggs release specific blends of mostly terpenoid volatiles, which are highly attractive to the egg parasitoid Oomyzus gallerucae. By combining methods from chemical ecology, analytical chemistry, molecular biology and plant transformation, we intend to investigate (a) the mode of volatile induction at the level of gene expression, (b) how U. campestris regulated the production of the induced volatiles on specific temporal and spatial scales, and (c) the function of the genes associated with the volatiles involved in parasitoid attraction, through the use of genetically-transformed lines of U. campestris which will be tested with the egg parasitoids in olfactometer bioassays.

• DFG-Verfahren: Sachbeihilfen