Chemical Ecology

Plants under attack by herbivores initiate the production and release of volatiles that are attractive to the natural enemies of the herbivores.  Aboveground these volatile signals can attract parasitic wasps and predators that attack and kill the herbivores. Belowground such signals are attractive to insect-killing nematodes. The signals are also perceived by neighboring plants, which may then mobilize their own defenses.  We aim to unravel the chemical and molecular mechanisms that are involved in these interactions, as well as understand their ecological consequences.  By studying cultivated plant and their wild ancestors we hope to develop methods to better exploit the natural defense signals for optimal crop protection.

• Photorhabdus khanii subsp. guanajuatensis subsp. nov., isolated from Heterorhabditis atacamensis, and Photorhabdus luminescens subsp. mexicana subsp. nov., isolated from Heterorhabditis mexicana entomopathogenic nematodes
  Machado, RAR; Bruno, P; Arce, CCM; Liechti, N; Kohler, A; Bernal, J; Bruggmann, R; Turlings, TCJ
  INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF SYSTEMATIC AND EVOLUTIONARY MICROBIOLOGY, 69 (3):652-661; 10.1099/ijsem.0.003154 MAR 2019
• Protecting maize from rootworm damage with the combined application of arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi, Pseudomonas bacteria and entomopathogenic nematodes
  Jaffuel, G; Imperiali, N; Shelby, K; Campos-Herrera, R; Geisert, R; Maurhofer, M; Loper, J; Keel, C; Turlings, TCJ; Hibbard, BE
  SCIENTIFIC REPORTS, 9 10.1038/s41598-019-39753-7 FEB 28 2019
• Molecular detection and quantification of slug parasitic nematodes from the soil and their hosts
  Jaffuel, G; Puza, V; Hug, AS; Meuli, RG; Nermut, J; Turlings, TCJ; Desurmont, GA; Campos-Herrera, R
  JOURNAL OF INVERTEBRATE PATHOLOGY, 160 18-25; 10.1016/j.jip.2018.11.005 JAN 2019
• Can Herbivore-Induced Volatiles Protect Plants by Increasing the Herbivores' Susceptibility to Natural Pathogens?
  Gasmi, L; Martinez-Solis, M; Frattini, A; Ye, M; Collado, MC; Turlings, TCJ; Erb, M; Herrero, S
  APPLIED AND ENVIRONMENTAL MICROBIOLOGY, 85 (1):10.1128/AEM.01468-18 JAN 2019
• The evaluation of entomopathogenic nematode soil food web assemblages across Switzerland reveals major differences among agricultural, grassland and forest ecosystems
  Jaffuel, G; Blanco-Perez, R; Hug, AS; Chiriboga, X; Meuli, RG; Mascher, F; Turlings, TCJ; Campos-Herrera, R
  AGRICULTURE ECOSYSTEMS & ENVIRONMENT, 262 48-57; 10.1016/j.agee.2018.04.008 JUL 15 2018
• Root-colonizing bacteria enhance the levels of (E)-beta-caryophyllene produced by maize roots in response to rootworm feeding (vol 187, pg 459, 2018)
  Chiriboga, MX; Guo, HJ; Campos-Herrera, R; Roder, G; Imperiali, N; Keel, C; Maurhofer, M; Turlings, TCJ
  OECOLOGIA, 187 (2):469-469; 10.1007/s00442-018-4104-8 JUN 2018
• Root-colonizing bacteria enhance the levels of (E)-beta-caryophyllene produced by maize roots in response to rootworm feeding
  Chiriboga, MX; Guo, HJ; Campos-Herrera, R; Roder, G; Imperiali, N; Keel, C; Maurhofer, M; Turlings, TCJ
  OECOLOGIA, 187 (2):459-468; https://doi.org/10.1007/s00442-017-4055-5 JUN 2018
• Development of Asian parasitoids in larvae of Drosophila suzukii feeding on blueberry and artificial diet
  Girod, P; Rossignaud, L; Haye, T; Turlings, TCJ; Kenis, M
  JOURNAL OF APPLIED ENTOMOLOGY, 142 (5):483-494; 10.1111/jen.12496 JUN 2018
• Parasitic Wasps Can Reduce Mortality of Teosinte Plants Infested With Fall Armyworm: Support for a Defensive Function of Herbivore-Induced Plant Volatiles
  de Lange, ES; Farnier, K; Degen, T; Gaudillat, B; Aguilar-Romero, R; Bahena-Juarez, F; Oyama, K; Turlings, TCJ
  FRONTIERS IN ECOLOGY AND EVOLUTION, 6 10.3389/fevo.2018.00055 MAY 18 2018
• An herbivore-induced plant volatile reduces parasitoid attraction by changing the smell of caterpillars
  Ye, M; Veyrat, N; Xu, H; Hu, LF; Turlings, TCJ; Erb, M
  SCIENCE ADVANCES, 4 (5):10.1126/sciadv.aar4767 MAY 2018
• Priming of cowpea volatile emissions with defense inducers enhances the plant's attractiveness to parasitoids when attacked by caterpillars 
  Sobhy, Islam S.; Bruce, Toby J. A.; Turlings, Ted C. J.
  PEST MANAGEMENT SCIENCE, 74 (4): 966-977 APR 2018
• Fine-tuning the 'plant domestication-reduced defense' hypothesis: specialist vs generalist herbivores 
  Gaillard, Mickael D. P.; Glauser, Gaetan; Robert, Christelle A. M.; et al. 
  NEW PHYTOLOGIST, 217 (1): 355-366 JAN 2018
• Tritrophic Interactions Mediated by Herbivore-Induced Plant Volatiles: Mechanisms, Ecological Relevance, and Application Potential 
  Turlings, Ted C. J.; Erb, Matthias 
  ANNUAL REVIEW OF ENTOMOLOGY, VOL 63, 63: 433-452 2018
• Improved separation by at-column dilution in preparative hydrophilic interaction chromatography 
  Jaffuel, Geoffrey; Chappuis, Laura; Guillarme, Davy; et al. 
  JOURNAL OF CHROMATOGRAPHY A, 1532: 136-143 JAN 12 2018
• With or without you: Effects of the concurrent range expansion of an herbivore and its natural enemy on native species interactions 
  Carrasco, David; Desurmont, Gaylord A.; Laplanche, Diane; et al. 
  GLOBAL CHANGE BIOLOGY, 24 (2): 631-643 FEB 2018

• Plant-insect interactions
• Induced plant defenses
• Evolutionary ecology of tritrophic interactions
• Assessment of transgenic crops

• Crop protection 
• Applied entomology 
• Agroecology
• Metabolomics
• Biodiversity