A larva of the Western corn rootworm gnaws at a nutrient-rich crown root of a maize plant. Credit: Cyril Hertz.
The struggle for iron determines the fate of maize and insect pest: Maize plants release secondary metabolites into the soil that bind to iron and thereby facilitate its uptake by the plant. The Western corn rootworm, the economically most important maize pest worldwide, is attracted by these complexes, extracts the bound iron from the maize plant and uses it for its own nutrition. With these insights, researchers from the University of Bern, Switzerland, and the Max Planck Institute for Chemical Ecology in Jena, Germany, provide a new explanation for the extraordinary success of the Western corn rootworm as a global maize pest. The Western corn rootworm (Diabrotica virgifera) causes annual losses of more than two billion US dollars in corn production, and is thus one of the economically most important pests in agriculture. The insect originates from America, but its occurrence in Europe has increased in recent years. It is resistant to many conventional pest control strategies, and the natural defense mechanisms of maize plants provide little protection against this particular enemy. Christelle Robert and Matthias Erb from the University of Bern had shown in the past that the corn rootworm is resistant to the most important class of maize defense metabolites, the benzoxazinoids.
TO READ THIS ARTICLE, CREATE YOUR ACCOUNT
And extend your reading, free of charge and with no commitment.
