9.ヨモギハエボシフシにおける虫えい形成機構に関する研究(口頭発表)

概要

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Insect galls are the highly distinctive plant structure formed by some herbivorous insects as their own microhabitats. Galls are often formed when insect larva suck the plant tissues or female insect deposit its egg to the plant tissue. As its unique phenomenon, galls have been studied by many researchers, but its formative mechanism is still unknown. Currently, it is thought that galls are usually induced by chemicals that are secreted by salivary gland of larva or ovipositor. It has been suggested that amino acids and auxin present in this secretion are important, notably auxin, for gall formation. But the evidence so far obtained that auxin exists in the secretion is not fully reliable, and the ability of gall-maker insects to synthesize auxin has not been demonstrated. In this research, we used a gall that is made on Artemisia by a gall midge larva, and tried to reveal the gall formation mechanism. Here, we show that larvae contain auxin. Its auxin concentration was 10 times higher than plant tissue, and young larvae showed higher auxin concentration than old larvae. This result suggests that auxin is important for gall formation. We are currently under investigation to know if the auxin in larvae is synthesized by larva or is derived from plant ingestion, and also to reveal the relationship between auxin and gall formation.
2010-10-01