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Plant Defenses Against Insect Herbivory

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Integrated Management of Arthropod Pests and Insect Borne Diseases

Part of the book series: Integrated Management of Plant Pests and Diseases ((IMPD,volume 5))

Abstract

Herbivory, the act of consumption of plant biomass by specialist animals, regulates the cycling of biotic and abiotic ecosystem components, through a complex process transferring materials among various trophic levels. Herbivores include insects and mammals of varying sizes, the former being most important due to their high diversity. Insects consume the biomass in varying proportions, depending on their size and density. Apparent checks and balances between prey and predators or hosts and parasites are chemically governed functions. Plants and herbivores receive and send signals to each other as well as to organisms in higher trophic levels (predators) through volatile chemicals. Besides several morphological defence mechanisms, plants evolved specific chemical defences against insects. Among herbivores, insects also co-evolved mechanisms to overcome the volatile chemical arsenals of plants. In this review the role of plant defense against insect herbivory is discussed. The plant responses to repel insects and the synthesis of volatile chemicals to attract predatory insects or parasites are reviewed. Plants evolved genes (activated on insect attack) inducing the secretion of volatile chemicals. Such signalling attracts predators or parasites and is absent in plants when they are experimentally injured. Signalling is caused by the reaction with elicitors contained in the oral secretions of herbivorous insect. Through chemically operated keys, plants and insects regulate ecosystem functioning, allowing co-existence in wild and natural ecosystems.

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Acknowledgements

Authors acknowledge the Departments of Botany and Zoology, Aligarh Muslim University for necessary facilities, and funding agencies for financial assistance. Farha-Rehman acknowledges U.G.C. for research fellowship. S.M.A. Badruddin thanks ICAR for funding through the “Network Project on Insect Biosystematics”.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Botany, Aligarh Muslim University, Aligarh, 202002, UP, India

    Farha-Rehman & Fareed A. Khan

  2. Department of Zoology, Aligarh Muslim University, Aligarh, 202002, UP, India

    Shoeba B. Anis & S. M. A. Badruddin

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  1. Farha-Rehman
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  1. Istituto per la Protezione delle Piante, Sezione di Bari, Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche, Via G. Amendola 122/D, Bari, 70126, Italy

    Aurelio Ciancio

  2. Dept. Botany, University of Delhi, New Delhi, 110007, India

    K.G. Mukerji

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Farha-Rehman, Khan, F.A., Anis, S.B., Badruddin, S.M.A. (2010). Plant Defenses Against Insect Herbivory. In: Ciancio, A., Mukerji, K. (eds) Integrated Management of Arthropod Pests and Insect Borne Diseases. Integrated Management of Plant Pests and Diseases, vol 5. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-90-481-8606-8_8

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