Sungchae Jung

Antagonistic effect of juvenile hormone on hemocyte-spreading behavior of Spodoptera exigua in response to an insect cytokine and its putative membrane action.

Juvenile hormone (JH) acts on membrane of follicle cells to induce ovarian patency for vitellogenesis, though it regulates various other physiological processes via putative intracellular receptors. This study suggests another JH membrane action by analyzing in vitro hemocyte behavior. In response to nonself, both granular cells and plasmatocytes of Spodoptera exigua can exhibit cell shape changes through spreading behaviors. Plasmatocytes were separated from total S. exigua hemocytes by Percoll gradient and exposed in vitro to an insect cytokine, plasmatocyte-spreading peptide (PSP), identified from Pseudoplusia includens. In response, the purified plasmatocytes spread in a dose-dependent manner from picomolar to micromolar concentrations. Interestingly, the PSP responses of plasmatocytes in S. exigua varied among different larval ages during fifth instar ( approximately 5 days at 25 degrees C) in a sensitivity order of late (5 days old)<early (1 day old)<mid (3 days old). Considering the overall endocrine changes that occur during the final instar of holometabolous insects, we suspected that JH and ecdysteroid hormones were responsive for this developmental modulation of plasmatocyte sensitivity to PSP. We tested this hypothesis by exposing plasmatocytes to hormone agonists in vitro. Pyriproxyfen, a JH agonist, significantly inhibited plasmatocyte sensitivity to PSP. JH I and II had significant effects on antagonizing plasmatocyte sensitivity to PSP, but either JH III or farnesoic acid did not. In contrast, 20-hydroxyecdysone (20E) enhanced the plasmatocyte sensitivity to PSP. Ethoxyzolamide, a putative JH competitor to membrane receptor, inhibited JH action on the plasmatocyte sensitivity to PSP. Though staurosporine (a protein kinase inhibitor) alone did not influence plasmatocyte sensitivity to PSP, it antagonized the JH inhibitory effect on the plasmatocytes. Ouabain, a specific Na+ -K+ ATPase inhibitor, also masked the JH action on the plasmatocytes. These results suggest that the JH acts on the membrane of the plasmatocytes and prevents plasmatocyte spreading by reducing cell volume through activating Na+ -K+ pump via protein kinase C signal pathway.

Parasitism of Cotesia spp. Enhances Susceptibility of Plutella xylostella to Other Pathogens

Abstract Two endoparasitoids, Cotesia plutellae and C. glomerata, parasitize the diamondback moth, Plutella xylostella, and induce significant host immunosuppression. This study analyzed the susceptibility changes of the parasitized P. xylostella against other pathogens using an entomopathogenic bacterium, Xenorhabdus nematophila (Xn), and a viral pathogen, Autographa californica nucleopolyhedrosis virus (AcNPV). The P. xylostella parasitized by either C. plutellae or C. glomerata exhibited higher susceptibilities to both microbial pathogens than the nonpara-sitized. To determine the parasitism factors inducing the enhanced susceptibility, three polydnaviral genes so far successfully cloned were selected from C. plutellae bracovirus (CpBV). CpBV-lectin and CpBV15 α/β were inserted into AcNPV under a CpBV promote and analyzed in their pathogenicities against P. xylostella larvae. Two AcNPVs recombined with CpBV15α/β were more potent than the control AcNPV recombined with an enhanced green fluorescent protein gene or the AcNPV recombined with CpBV-lectin. These results suggest that the wasp parasitization enhances other pathogen susceptibilities by inducing host immunosuppression, in which the symbiotic polydnavirus can play significant role in the enhanced susceptibility.

Differential Parasitic Capacity of Cotesia plutellae and C. glomerata on Diamondback Moth, Plutella xylostella and Dichotomous Taxonomic Characters

Abstract Two closely-related endoparasitoids of Cotesia plutellae and C. glomerata parasitize the diamondback moth, Plutella xylostella. The parasitized hosts by either parasitoid species exhibited the extended larval period and died without further metamorphosis to pupal stage. However, two parasitoid species exhibited significantly different parasitic capacity and developmental rate, in which C. plutellae showed higher parasitism and faster development in the parasitized P. xylostella. To discriminate these two similar species, morphological and molecular differences were analyzed. Three dichotomous morphological characters including antennal flagellum, hind-leg femur, and terminal abdominal terga were determined. Based on the presumptive polydnaviral particles found in the ovarian calyx of C. glomerata , three genes similar to C. plutellae bracoviral genes were cloned in the C. glomerata genome and compared in their cDNA and the deduced amino acid sequences. Several polymorphic sites were detected to be applicable to design molecular markers to discriminate these two species.

Comparative Analysis to Damage Reduction of Host Plant by Applying a Mating Disruptor of the Oriental Fruit Moth, Grapholita molesta in Two Different Cultivation Environments of Apple Orchard

This study demonstrates a variability in efficacy of mating disruption against the oriental fruit moth, Grapholita molesta, populations infesting apples cultivated in differential environmental conditions. Throughout the growing seasons, trap catches of G. molesta male moths and damaged leaf and fruit were examined to evaluate the efficacy of a commercialized mating disruptor. Treatment of the mating disruptor significantly reduced the trap catches of male moth in treated plot, compared to those of the untreated plot. This reduced trap catches were significantly correlated with leaf and fruit damage. Moreover, the highest host damage occurred in June just after the highest overwintering adult peaks in both plots. The treatment of mating disruptors in Chungsong effectively disrupted the overwintering population in April and May, resulting in no noticeable host damage during the following growing seasons. However, there was a marked difference in host damage between two plots, especially in late seasons. Variation in the efficacy of mating disruption technology in terms of host damage appeared to be related with nearby pheromone-untreated orchards, which may result in the immigration of gravid females.

Development of Wax-typed Pheromone Dispenser for Mating Discruption of the Oriental Fruit Moth, Grapholita molesta, and Its Application Technique

A wax-typed pheromone dispenser has been developed and applied to control outbreak of the oriental fruit moth, Grapholita molesta, in apple orchard. To optimize its application technique, this study analyzed effect of different amounts of the pheromone dispenser on mating disruption(`MD`) of G. molesta. Different pheromone dispenser amounts significantly influenced the MD effect assessed by cumulative male adult catches monitored respectively by sticky delta trap and food trap, and resulted in differential damage on host plants. In a field test during entire growing season, a standard amount(120 g per 0.117 ha) of wax-typed pheromone dispenser was proved to be effective to suppress outbreak of G. molesta adults and to prevent host plant damage as much as a current commercial MD product(). This study also demonstrated an effectiveness of deployment of food trap barriers around MD-treated area to prevent immigration of mated females from outside untreated areas. These results indicate that the wax-typed pheromone dispenser can be applied to control field G. molesta populations and its co-application with fuod trap barriers would be optimal to maximize MD efficacy.

An Entomopathogenic Bacterium, Xenorhabdus nematophila K1, Enhances Baculovirus Pathogenicity against Spodoptera exigua and Plutella xylostella

Abstract This is a report to demonstrate a pathogenicity enhancement by two microbial agents. Baculovirus pathogenicity was attenuated with larval development of both lepidopteran species: the beet armyworm, Spodoptera exigua, and the diamondback moth, Plutella xylostella. The addition of an entomopathogenic bacterium, Xenorhabdus nematophila Kl, to the baculovirus treatment significantly enhanced the viral pathogenicity in both lepidopteran species. The synergistic pathogenicity may result from their independent pathogenic targets in the insects.