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.

• Multi-locus phylogenetic analyses uncover species boundaries and reveal the occurrence of two new entomopathogenic nematode species, Heterorhabditis ruandica n. sp. and Heterorhabditis zacatecana n. sp.
  Machado, Ricardo A. R.; Bhat, Aashaq Hussain; Abolafia, Joaquin; Muller, Arthur; Bruno, Pamela; Fallet, Patrick; Arce, Carla C. M.; Turlings, Ted C. J.; Bernal, Julio S.; Kajuga, Joelle; Waweru, Bancy; Toepfer, Stefan
  Journal Of Nematology, 10.21307/jofnem-2021-089, 2021
• Whitefly hijacks a plant detoxification gene that neutralizes plant toxins
  Xia, Jixing; Guo, Zhaojiang; Yang, Zezhong; Han, Haolin; Wang, Shaoli; et al.
  Cell 10.1016/j.cell.2021.02.014  Published: APR 1 2021
• Differential levels of fatty acid-amino acid conjugates in the oral secretions of lepidopteran larvae account for the differed profiles of volatiles produced by maize
  Ling, Xiaoyu; Gu, Shimin; Tian, Caihong; Guo, Huijuan; Degen, Thomas; et al.
  Pest Management Science  10.1002/ps.6417  Early Access: APR 2021
• Streamlining leaf damage rating scales for the fall armyworm on maize
  Toepfer, Stefan; Fallet, Patrick; Kajuga, Joelle; Bazagwira, Didace; Mukundwa, Ishimwe Primitive; et al.
  Journal Of Pest Science, 10.1007/s10340-021-01359-2   Early Access: MAR 2021
• Calcium-alginate beads as a formulation for the application of entomopathogenic nematodes to control rootworms
  Kim, Jinwon; Hiltpold, Ivan; Jaffuel, Geoffrey; Sbaiti, Ilham; Hibbard, Bruce E.; et al.
  Journal Of Pest Science, 10.1007/s10340-021-01349-4   FEB 2021
• Bioturbation by endogeic earthworms facilitates entomopathogenic nematode movement toward herbivore-damaged maize roots
  Fattore, S; Xiao, ZG; Godschalx, AL; Roder, G; Turlings, TCJ; Le Bayon, RC; Rasmann, S
  Scientific Reports 10.1038/s41598-020-78307-0 DEC 4 2020
• A receptor-like protein mediates plant immune responses to herbivore-associated molecular patterns
  Steinbrenner, Adam D.; Munoz-Amatriain, Maria; Chaparro, Antonio F.; Aguilar-Venegas, Jessica Montserrat; Lo, Sassoum; Okuda, Satohiro; Glauser, Gaetan; Dongiovanni, Julien; Shi, Da; Hall, Marlo; Crubaugh, Daniel; Holton, Nicholas; Zipfel, Cyril; Abagyan, Ruben; Turlings, Ted C. J.; Close, Timothy J.; Huffaker, Alisa; Schmelz, Eric A
  Proceedings Of The National Academy Of Sciences Of The United States Of America 117(49): 31510-31518   DOI: 10.1073/pnas.2018415117   DEC 8 2020
• Apparent inhibition of induced plant volatiles by a fungal pathogen prevents airborne communication between potato plants
  Moreira, X; Granjel, RR; de la Fuente, M; Fernandez-Conradi, P; Pasch, V; Soengas, P; Turlings, TCJ; Vazquez-Gonzalez, C; Abdala-Roberts, L; Rasmann, S
  Plant Cell And Environment 10.1111/pce.13961  DEC 2020
• Effects of soil salinity on the expression of direct and indirect defences in wild cottonGossypium hirsutum
  Quijano-Medina, Teresa; Turlings, Ted C. J.; Sosenski, Paula; Grandi, Luca; Cervera, Jose C.; et al.
  Journal Of Ecology  DOI: 10.1111/1365-2745.13483  AUG 2020
• Caterpillar-induced rice volatiles provide enemy-free space for the offspring of the brown planthopper
  Hu, Xiaoyun; Su, Shuangli; Liu, Qingsong; Jiao, Yaoyu; Peng, Yufa; et al.
  Elife  DOI: 10.7554/eLife.55421 Published: AUG 11 2020
• Floral Odors Can Interfere With the Foraging Behavior of Parasitoids Searching for Hosts
  Desurmont, Gaylord A.; von Arx, Martin; Turlings, Ted C. J.; Schiestl, Florian P.
  Frontiers In Ecology And Evolution  DOI: 10.3389/fevo.2020.00148 Published: MAY 27 2020
• Entomopathogenic nematodes from Mexico that can overcome the resistance mechanisms of the western corn rootworm
  Bruno, Pamela; Machado, Ricardo A. R.; Glauser, Gaetan; Kohler, Angela; Campos-Herrera, Raquel; et al.
  Scientific Reports 10(1), 10.1038/s41598-020-64945-x May 2020
• Biological control of cabbage fly Delia radicum with entomopathogenic nematodes: Selecting the most effective nematode species and testing a novel application method
  Kapranas, Apostolos; Sbaiti, Ilham; Degen, Thomas; Turlings, Ted C. J.
  Biological Control  DOI: 10.1016/j.biocontrol.2020.104212 Published: MAY 2020
• Distinct Roles of Cuticular Aldehydes as Pheromonal Cues in Two Cotesia Parasitoids
  Xu, Hao; Zhou, Guoxin; Dotterl, Stefan; Schaffler, Irmgard; Degen, Thomas; et al.
  Journal Of Chemical Ecology  DOI: 10.1007/s10886-019-01142-9  Published: FEB 2020
• Encapsulated Entomopathogenic Nematodes Can Protect Maize Plants from Diabrotica balteata Larvae
  Jaffuel, Geoffrey; Sbaiti, Ilham; Turlings, Ted C. J.
  Insects,  11(1), DOI: 10.3390/insects11010027, JAN 2020
• Spodoptera frugiperda Caterpillars Suppress Herbivore-Induced Volatile Emissions in Maize
  De Lange, Elvira S.; Laplanche, Diane; Guo, Huijuan; Xu, Wei; Vlimant, Michele; Erb, Matthias; Ton, Jurriaan; Turlings, Ted
  Journal Of Chemical Ecology,  DOI: 10.1007/s10886-020-01153-x, JAN 2020
• Bottom-up control of geographic variation in insect herbivory on wild cotton (Gossypium hirsutum) by plant defenses and climate
  Abdala-Roberts, L; Quijano-Medina, T; Moreira, X; Vazquez-Gonzalez, C; Parra-Tabla, V; Teran, JCBMY; Grandi, L; Glauser, G; Turlings, TCJ; Benrey, B
  AMERICAN JOURNAL OF BOTANY, 106 (8):1059-1067; 10.1002/ajb2.1330 AUG 2019
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• Plant-insect interactions
• Induced plant defenses
• Evolutionary ecology of tritrophic interactions
• Assessment of transgenic crops

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