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Volatolomics to Decrypt the Monophagous Nature of a Rice Pest, Scirpophaga Incertulas (Walker)

Authors:
Totan Adak at Central Rice Research Institute
Totan Adak
Arabinda Mahanty at Central Inland Fisheries Research Institute
Arabinda Mahanty
Somanatha Jena
Somanatha Jena
Somanatha Jena
  • This person is not on ResearchGate, or hasn't claimed this research yet.
Basana Gowda G at ICAR-National Rice Research Institute, Cuttack
Basana Gowda G
  • ICAR-National Rice Research Institute, Cuttack
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Abstract and Figures

Scirpophaga incertulas Walker (Lepidoptera: Crambidae, yellow stem borer, YSB) is a monophagous insect pest that causes significant yield loss in rice (Oryza staiva L.). Semiochemical based pest management is being sought as an alternate to chemical pesticides to reduce pesticide footprints. We hypothesized differential release of volatiles from host rice and two companion non-host weeds, Echinochloa colona and Echinochloa crus-galli could be responsible for oviposition and biology of YSB and these chemicals could be used for YSB management. Number of eggs laid, and number of larvae hatched were significantly higher in rice plant as compared to weeds. YSB could only form dead hearts in rice plants. YSB significantly preferred host-plant volatiles compared to the non-host plants both in choice and no-choice tests in an Y-tube olfactometer. 2-Hexenal, hexanal, 2,4-hexadienal, benzaldehyde, nonanal, methyl salicylate and decanal were found in the leaf volatolomes of both the host and non-host plants in HS-SPME-GC-MS (Headspace-Solid phase micro extraction-Gas chromatography-Mass spectrometer). Pentene-3-one, 2-pentyl furan, 2,4-heptadienal, 2-octenal, 2-octenol and menthol were present only in the non-host plants. Fourteen rice unique compounds were also detected. The built-in PCA (Principal Component Analysis) and PLS-DA (Partial least squares-discriminant analysis) analysis in the MS-DIAL tool showed that the volatiles emitted from TN1 formed a cluster distinct from Echinochloa spp. and 2-octenal was identified as a unique compound. Olfactometer bioassays using synthetic compounds showed that rice unique compounds, like xylene, hexanal served as attractants whereas non-host unique compounds, like 2-pentylfuran, 2-octenal acted as repellent. The results indicate that the rice unique compounds xylene, hexanal along with other volatile compounds could be responsible for higher preference of YSB towards rice plants. Similarly, the non-host unique compounds 2-pentylfuran, 2-octenal could possibly be responsible for lower preference and defence against YSB. These compounds could be utilised for devising traps for YSB monitoring and management.
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RESEARCH
Journal of Chemical Ecology
https://doi.org/10.1007/s10886-024-01498-7
Introduction
Stem borers are the predominant and most serious insect
pests of rice throughout India and South-East Asia. Stem
borers comprise of fty species from three families
namely, Pyralidae (Lepidoptera), Noctuidae (Lepidop-
tera) and Diopsidae (Diptera) across the globe (Pathak
and Khan 1994; Horgan 2023). Among the stem borers,
the yellow stem borer (YSB), Scirpophaga incertulas is
the most dominant species in the Indian sub-continent
(DRR, 1965–2003, Jena et al. 2018). The yield loss
caused due to YSB infestation depends on the stage of the
rice plant and it which may go up to 50% if the infesta-
tion occurs at early growth phase of the plant (Krishnaiah
Totan Adak and Arabinda Mahanty contributed equally to this work.
Totan Adak
Totan.Adak@icar.gov.in; totanadak@gmail.com
1 ICAR-National Rice Research Institute, Cuttack,
Odisha 753006, India
2 Division of Crop Protection, National Rice Research
Institute, Cuttack 753006, India
Abstract
Scirpophaga incertulas Walker (Lepidoptera: Crambidae, yellow stem borer, YSB) is a monophagous insect pest that
causes signicant yield loss in rice (Oryza staiva L.). Semiochemical based pest management is being sought as an alter-
nate to chemical pesticides to reduce pesticide footprints. We hypothesized dierential release of volatiles from host rice
and two companion non-host weeds, Echinochloa colona and Echinochloa crus-galli could be responsible for oviposition
and biology of YSB and these chemicals could be used for YSB management. Number of eggs laid, and number of larvae
hatched were signicantly higher in rice plant as compared to weeds. YSB could only form dead hearts in rice plants. YSB
signicantly preferred host-plant volatiles compared to the non-host plants both in choice and no-choice tests in an Y-tube
olfactometer. 2-Hexenal, hexanal, 2,4-hexadienal, benzaldehyde, nonanal, methyl salicylate and decanal were found in the
leaf volatolomes of both the host and non-host plants in HS-SPME-GC-MS (Headspace-Solid phase micro extraction-Gas
chromatography-Mass spectrometer). Pentene-3-one, 2-pentyl furan, 2,4-heptadienal, 2-octenal, 2-octenol and menthol
were present only in the non-host plants. Fourteen rice unique compounds were also detected. The built-in PCA (Principal
Component Analysis) and PLS-DA (Partial least squares-discriminant analysis) analysis in the MS-DIAL tool showed that
the volatiles emitted from TN1 formed a cluster distinct from Echinochloa spp. and 2-octenal was identied as a unique
compound. Olfactometer bioassays using synthetic compounds showed that rice unique compounds, like xylene, hexanal
served as attractants whereas non-host unique compounds, like 2-pentylfuran, 2-octenal acted as repellent. The results
indicate that the rice unique compounds xylene, hexanal along with other volatile compounds could be responsible for
higher preference of YSB towards rice plants. Similarly, the non-host unique compounds 2-pentylfuran, 2-octenal could
possibly be responsible for lower preference and defence against YSB. These compounds could be utilised for devising
traps for YSB monitoring and management.
Keywords Volatolome · HS-SPME-GC-MS · Rice · Scirpophaga Incertulas · Dynamic Headspace
Received: 16 October 2023 / Revised: 21 March 2024 / Accepted: 15 April 2024
© The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer Science+Business Media, LLC, part of Springer Nature 2024
Volatolomics to Decrypt the Monophagous Nature of a Rice Pest,
Scirpophaga Incertulas (Walker)
TotanAdak1,2· ArabindaMahanty1· SomanathaJena1· Basana GowdaGadratagi1· NaveenkumarPatil1·
GovindharajGuru-Pirasanna-Pandi1· MahendiranAnnamalai1· PrasanthiGolive1· Prakash ChandraRath1
1 3
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