Host plant-specific volatiles of Beauveria bassiana-colonized plants initiate trophic plant-aphid-predator cascades.
Cuenca-Medina M, Rodríguez-Solana R, Moreno-Rojas JM, Alcalá-Herrera R, Quesada-Moraga E
Biocontrol
The lacewings hovering around your melon vines may be responding to invisible chemical signals from a fungus quietly living inside the plant — and scientists are now learning how to encourage that partnership to replace chemical sprays.
Researchers grew a naturally occurring fungus inside three varieties of melon plants and found that each variety responded by releasing its own unique mix of airborne chemicals. When they tested whether a common garden predator — the lacewing — preferred plants treated this way, the lacewings consistently chose the fungus-colonized plants. This means the fungus essentially turns the plant into a beacon that calls in pest-eating insects, a built-in biological pest control that differs depending on which melon variety you grow.
Key Findings
Beauveria bassiana colonized 73–85% of melon plants depending on cultivar, and each cultivar released a distinct set of new volatile chemicals in response.
Lacewings (Chrysoperla carnea) showed a measurable preference for B. bassiana-colonized melon plants in olfactometer tests, even without aphid infestation present.
Cultivar-specific compounds included cis-3-hexenol and β-phellandrene in Galia, cinnamaldehyde and cinnamyl alcohol in Futuro, and styrene and acetophenone in Rinconete — suggesting variety choice matters for biocontrol outcomes.
chevron_right Technical Summary
A beneficial fungus (Beauveria bassiana) living inside melon plants changes the chemical scents the plants release, and those scent changes vary by melon variety. These altered scents attract natural predators like lacewings, suggesting the fungus can help recruit pest-eating allies without pesticides.
Abstract Preview
Entomopathogenic ascomycetes (EAs) have efficacy in insect pest control through direct contact and indirectly as plant endophytes. As endophytes, they lead indirectly to pest mortality, enhance pla...
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