The use of endophytic entomopathogenic fungi (EEF) represents a promising strategy to boost plant resistance in crops against both biotic and environmental stresses. However, the mechanisms by which this inoculation influences constitutive and herbivore-induced defenses to protect plants against pest insects remain unclear. To address this gap, we investigated whether the inoculation of the EEF can modulate sugarcane plant defenses and their resistance against the sugarcane borer . Specifically, we examined the endogenous levels of jasmonic acid (JA) and salicylic acid (SA), as well as the volatile emissions in sugarcane, in the absence and presence of infestation caused by . We also explored how these inoculations might affect the oviposition preference of (direct defense) and the chemotaxis of its main natural enemy, the parasitoid (indirect defense), commonly used in biological control programs. Our findings revealed that inoculation alters sugarcane plant chemical traits, affecting their resistance differently against infestation. In non-infested plants, the inoculation of increased JA and SA phytohormones, suppressed volatile emissions, and reduced egg-laying by , while exhibiting no effect on attraction. Conversely, in infested plants, increased JA content and reduced SA levels, resulting in quantitatively different volatile emissions. These changes increased attraction of compared to infested plants without fungal inoculation. Our results demonstrate that inoculations can enhance sugarcane plants' constitutive defenses against while improving their herbivore-induced indirect defenses in sugarcane.

中文翻译：

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内生昆虫病原真菌罗伯茨绿僵菌改变甘蔗植物的防御能力，减少甘蔗白蚁的产卵并增强黄蜂的吸引力


内生昆虫病原真菌（EEF）的使用代表了一种增强作物对生物和环境胁迫的抵抗力的有前景的策略。然而，这种接种影响组成型和食草动物诱导的防御以保护植物免受害虫侵害的机制仍不清楚。为了解决这一差距，我们研究了 EEF 的接种是否可以调节甘蔗植物的防御及其对甘蔗螟虫的抵抗力。具体来说，我们检查了在存在和不存在由 .我们还探讨了这些接种如何影响生物控制计划中常用的主要天敌寄生蜂（间接防御）的产卵偏好（直接防御）及其趋化性。我们的研究结果表明，接种会改变甘蔗植物的化学特性，从而不同程度地影响其对侵染的抵抗力。在未受侵染的植物中，接种增加了 JA 和 SA 植物激素，抑制了挥发性排放，并减少了产卵，同时对吸引力没有影响。相反，在受感染的植物中，JA 含量增加，SA 水平降低，导致挥发性物质排放量不同。与未接种真菌的受感染植物相比，这些变化增加了吸引力。我们的结果表明，接种可以增强甘蔗植物的本构防御，同时改善食草动物诱导的甘蔗间接防御。