Arnaud Ameline

• PhD
• Professor (Full) at University of Picardie Jules Verne

A growing number of studies suggest that plant viruses manipulate host plant phenotypes to increase transmission-conducive behaviors by vectors. Studies on this phenomenon frequently omit examination of interactions that occur after vectors acquire virions, which provides an incomplete understanding of the ecology of plant virus manipulation. Here,...

The combination of a companion plant with a cultivated plant is considered an interesting strategy to reduce pest pressure and, hence, the use of pesticides. Although several plants from the Alliaceae and Lamiaceae families are known to be efficient companion plants against aphid pests, only a few plants of the Geraniaceae family have been studied...

Plant pathogens can alter the behavior of their insect vectors as well as their survival and reproduction. The African psyllid, Trioza erytreae, is one of the vectors of Huanglongbing, a citrus disease caused mainly by "Candidatus Liberibacter asiaticus" (CLas). The purpose of this study was to characterize the effects of CLas on the psyllid, T. er...

The European crabapple Malus sylvestris, a crop wild relative of Malus domestica, is a major contributor to the cultivated apple genome and represents a potential source of interesting alleles or genes, particularly pest resistance traits. An original approach was used to explore the trophic interaction between M. sylvestris populations and its pes...

Once introduced in a new range, alien plants likely escape specialist natural enemies of their native range, but still have to cope with resident generalist enemies in the invaded habitats. Here we designed a suite of lab experiments to assess whether the generalist aphid pest Aphis fabae was able to feed, survive, reproduce and establish colonies...

BACKGROUND The enemy release hypothesis (ERH) predicts that alien plant species are unsuitable hosts for native phytophagous insects. However, the biotic resistance hypothesis (BRH) predicts that generalist herbivores may prefer an alien plant over their common host plant. In this study, we have tested these two hypotheses by comparing the potentia...

Variability of intraspecific host plant quality for phytophagous insects may have consequences on the structure and functioning of associated food webs. The quality of host plants can affect aphids fitness, influencing their life history traits and altering the nutritional resources available to higher trophic levels, potentially affecting the deve...

Apples and pears are among the most widely cultivated fruit species in the world. Pesticides are commonly applied using ground sprayers in conventional orchards; however, most of it will not reach the target plant, increasing the contamination of nontarget organisms such as natural predators, pollinators, and decomposers. Trunk injection is an alte...

Most insect herbivores are adapted to feed on a few host plants only, but the mechanisms underlying plant specialization are poorly understood. One of the dominant hypotheses is that insects inject an oral secretion into the plant that manipulates the plant's defences resulting in induced susceptibility. We tested this hypothesis on the pea aphid (...

Essential oils (EOs) are promising sources of effective bioactive compounds for insect pest control, especially in heavily treated agrosystems like orchards. Plants belonging to the Amaryllidaceae family – onion, garlic (Allium sativum L.), and others – present an interesting potential in apple (Malus domestica Borkh.) and pear (Pyrus communis L.,...

Resistant genotypes of crops have emerged as an alternative and sustainable solution to pesticide use against pest insects. The resistance depends on the genetic diversity of the host plant and the pest species and can cause an alteration of the insect behavior. The aim of this work was to characterize the resistance level of different Pisum genoty...

BACKGROUND Lipopeptides extracted from the Bacillus genus are emerging biopesticides, especially in protecting crops against phytopathogens. Among the three main families of lipopeptides, surfactins have been identified as having insecticidal properties against several insect orders. However, the sublethal effects of these promising biopesticides o...

Lipopeptides extracted from the Bacillus genus are emerging biopesticides, especially to protect crops against phytopathogens. Among the three main families of lipopeptides, Surfactin has been identified has having insecticidal properties against several insect orders. However, the sublethal effects of this promising biopesticide on insect pests an...

Essential oils (EOs) have been long known for their lethal effects on pests when topically applied or delivered by fumigation on the stored crops. However, their potential disturbance of insect pest colonization on their host plant remains little studied. EOs can cause escape behaviors due to their repellent volatile organic compounds (VOCs) or pre...

Within the framework of biocontrol development, several natural lipopeptides produced by Bacillus subtilis show well-documented anti-microbial properties, especially in orchards. However, the number of studies on their putative insecticidal effects remain low despite the growing interest to develop new strategies of orchards pests' control. The ros...

Combining a non-host plant (companion plant or CP) with a target cultivated plant is considered as a promising strategy to reduce pest pressure. Among the companion plants (CP) commonly used in integrated systems, those belonging to the Amaryllidaceae family (chives, garlic, onion, leek) exhibit characteristics related to certain volatile organic c...

BACKGROUND The association of crops of value with companion plants could be one of the strategies to reduce the harmful effects of pests. We hypothesize that volatile organic compounds (VOCs) emitted by some aromatic plants may negatively impact M. persicae, disturbing its feeding behavior and consequently its reproduction. RESULTS VOCs emitted fr...

Effects of plants on herbivores can cascade up the food web and modulate the abundance of higher trophic levels. In agro-ecosystems, plant viruses can affect the interactions between crops, crop pests, and natural enemies. Little is known, however, about the effects of viruses on higher trophic levels, including parasitoids and their ability for pe...

Les animaux restreignent leurs périodes d’activités à différents moments du cycle nycthéméral. Les rythmes comportementaux et physiologiques qui en découlent leurs permettent de se synchroniser avec leur environnement biotique et abiotique. Ces rythmes sont régulés par une horloge circadienne, propre à chaque espèce, mais aussi par les variations d...

There is growing evidence that plant viruses manipulate host plants to increase transmission-conducive behaviors by vectors. Reports of this phenomenon frequently include only highly susceptible, domesticated annual plants as hosts, which constrains our ability to determine whether virus effects are a component of an adaptive strategy on the part o...

Background Potato (Solanum tuberosum) is the fourth culture in the world and is widely used in the agri‐food industries. They generate by‐products in which α‐chaconine and α‐solanine, the two major solanidine‐based glycoalkaloids of potato, are present. As secondary metabolites, they play an important role in the protection system of potato and are...

Aphids are important pests which cause direct damage by feeding or indirect prejudice by transmitting plant viruses. Viruses are known to induce modifications of plant cues in ways that can alter vector behavior and virus transmission. In this work, we addressed whether the modifications induced by the aphid-transmitted Turnip yellows virus (TuYV)...

Plant viruses strongly influence the physiology of their host plants and phytophagous insect vectors, thereby affecting ecological interactions between them. Despite the important role of natural enemies on insect vector control and thus on virus dissemination, the influence of plant viruses on the third trophic level received little attention. We...

The application of nitrogen (N) and herbicides are commonly used to fertilize crops and protect them against weed development, but are also considered as soil and environment pollutants. Even so, the individual and combined non-target effects of N fertilizers and herbicides on multitrophic interactions within agrosystems are not well known. From so...

Insect-vectored plant viruses can induce changes in plant phenotypes, thus influencing plant–vector interactions in a way that may promote their dispersal according to their mode of transmission (i.e. circulative vs. non-circulative). This indirect vector manipulation requires host–virus–vector co-evolution and would thus be effective solely in ver...

Background: The use of nitrogen fertiliser in agrosystems can alter plant nitrogen and consequently improve nutrient availability for herbivores, potentially leading to better performance for herbivores and higher pest pressure in the field. Results: We compared, in laboratory conditions, the effects of nitrogen fertilisation on a promising biom...

From soil samples collected in fields characterized by contrasted nitrogen management over a 6-year period, we investigated the effects of direct application of glyphosate and nitrogen fertilization on microbial activities and soil nutrient status, the bean (Phaseolus vulgaris) biomass and nutrient acquisition, and the impacts of plant nutrition on...

Because N is frequently the most limiting mineral macronutrient for plants in terrestrial ecosystems, modulating N input may have ecological consequences through trophic levels. Thus, in agro-ecosystems, the success of natural enemies may depend not only from their herbivorous hosts but also from the host plant whose qualities may be modulated by N...

Growing landscapes - Cultivating innovative agricultural systems

Abstract Cropping systems based on carefully designed plant species mixtures reveal many potential advantages such as (1) yield improvement, (2) better control of pests and diseases, (3) enhanced ecological services and (4) greater economic profitability. The objective of this field study was to evaluate the effect of the faba bean-camelina associa...

Introduction: Phloeomyzus passerinii is a tree-dwelling aphid colonizing the trunks of poplars (Populus sp.). This species has several peculiarities. It occupies a basal position in the phylogeny of Aphididae, and it is responsible for spectacular diebacks of poplar plantations in Europe. Nonetheless, as an emerging pest, little is known about the...

The need to substitute fossil fuels to reduce CO2 emissions and to ensure energy security has led to an increasing interest for perennial grasses as alternative sources of energy. Among these plants, the biomass crops Miscanthus sinensis, Miscanthus sacchariflorus and their triploid sterile hybrid Miscanthus x giganteus have attracted a large inter...

The need to substitute fossil fuels to reduce CO2 emissions and to ensure energy security has led to an increasing interest for perennial grasses as alternative sources of energy. Of these plants, Miscanthus sinensis, Miscanthus sacchariflorus and their triploid sterile hybrid Miscanthus x giganteus have attracted keen interest as potential biomass...

Miscanthus spp. (Poaceae) is large perennial C4-grasses that are receiving considerable attention as bioenergy crops. Therefore, the introduction of miscanthus crops in Europe needs continuous monitoring and risk assessment because they may serve as a refuge or a reservoir for aphid pests and/or pathogens of conventional crops. Here, we first repor...

Parasitoid host selection behaviour has been extensively studied in experimentally simplified tritrophic systems formed by one single food chain (one plant, one herbivore and one parasitoid species). The "Mother knows best" hypothesis predicts that the preference for a plant-host complex should be positively correlated with plant quality for offspr...

Camelina sativa is a Brassicaceae that was commonly cultivated in Europe until the nineteenth century. Recently, it has received much interest as an alternative oil seed crop because of its particular oil composition and low requirements in terms of agronomic inputs and its resistance to some Brassicaceae-chewing insects. However, little is known a...

Abstract Miscanthus spp. are biofuel crops that are triggering growing interest worldwide due to their numerous agronomic advantages. Though breeding programs take into account usual key plant traits of agronomic interest (e.g., biomass production, adaptation to broader climatic range), they generally overlook plant attributes relating to pest and...

Parasitoid host selection behaviour has been extensively studied in tritrophic systems formed by one single food chain consisting of one plant, one herbivore and one parasitoid species. In agro-systems, however, parasitoids forage in complex habitats and the subsequent interactions that involve diverse plants communities have only been studied for...

Viral diseases non-persistently transmitted by aphids are of great economic importance in several annual crops. Transmission efficiency of these non-persistent phytoviruses is dependant on vector efficiency (i.e. vector intrinsic ability to transmit the virus) but also on the vector activity that implies the early steps of aphid host plant selectio...

Plant-manipulating herbivores can modify their host nutrients and defensive compounds to their own advantage. This generally results in enhanced performance of herbivores on modified tissues, but the anatomical and biochemical modifications undergone by host tissues could also modify the herbivores' behaviour. Phloeomyzus passerinii induces a react...

Myzus persicae Sulzer, 1776 (Sternorrhyncha: Aphididae) is an insect pest of several crops. Chemical control against pests causing harmful effects, so it is necessary to find alternative methods. In this context, insecticidal activity of water and hydroethanol extracts of neem leaves was investigated against the aphid M. persicae through biological...

Miscanthus is a perennial C4-grass that has received much interest as a potential of impact on the local agroecosytem. In this context, laboratory experiments were conducted to investigate the potential colonization of this new exotic plant species by three of the main aphid pest species of common crops in Picardie, northern France. In host prefere...

The woolly poplar aphid, Phloeomyzus passerinii (Signoret) (Hemiptera: Aphididae), is a major pest of poplar plantations in the Mediterranean basin and the Near East. Aphids colonize poplar trunks and feed upon the cortical parenchyma. Despite the economic importance of poplar, little is known about the mechanisms involved in poplar resistance to t...

L'utilisation des substances sémiochimiques pour contrôler les insectes ravageurs des cultures a été très précoce. Bien avant la disponibilité de phéromones de synthèse, les instituts techniques dédiés à l'agriculture utilisaient des femelles encagées pour suivre l'apparition des adultes des principaux Lépidoptères ravageurs de la vigne ou des cult...

The effects of the infection of potato (Solanum tuberosum) plants by the nonpersistent Potato virus Y (PVY) were studied on the host plant colonization behavior of different colonizing (Myzus persicae) and noncolonizing (Aphis fabae, Brevicoryne brassicae, and Sitobion avenae aphid species. The underlying questions of this study were to know how ap...

Secondary host plant colonization by aphids involves alate and apterous morphs to spread in the population at a large scale by flying or, at a finer one, by walking. Macrosiphum euphorbiae Thomas (Hemiptera: Aphididae) and Myzus persicae Sulzer (Hemiptera: Aphididae) are two polyphagous aphids that cause serious losses on many crops, particularly o...

In order to develop an alternative method to optimize the relative efficiency factor (REF) assessment, the efficiency of transmission of Potato virus Y (PVY) by seven aphid species was examined. In vitro micropropagated potato plantlets were used to experiment on phenotypically and genetically homogeneous material. Species-specific acquisition acce...

Mineral oil has been considered for several decades as an effective mean to control aphids and reduce the spread of non-persistent viruses. Mineral oil seems to reduce virus transmission efficiency interfering with the binding of the virions in the aphid stylets. However, several studies have shown the possible disruption of host selection process...

Host plant selection by aphids can be positively or negatively affected when plants are infected by phytoviruses. Potato plants infected by Potato virus Y (PVY), a non-persistent virus, are reported to affect settling behaviour and growth parameters of Myzus persicae Sulzer and Macrosiphum euphorbiae Thomas. Using the Electrical penetration graph s...

The use of a selective insecticide is highly recommended for Integrated Pest Management programs. Plenum (a.i.: pymetrozine; Syngenta Agro), a systemic insecticide, is regarded as a good candidate for use in situations where plant-sucking insects have to be controlled and where natural enemies can play a substantial role as biological control agent...

The diel periodicity of female calling behaviour in Ditula angustiorana (Haw.) was studied under laboratory conditions. Observations throughout photophases and scotophases showed that D. angustiorana females presented a rare diurnal calling behaviour with two distinct calling periods, one at the first part of the photophase (L+5) and another one at...

Non-persistent potato virus Y (PVY) transmitted by aphids causes serious damage to several cultivated plant species. From 2006 to 2009, transient aphids represented 80 to 90% of aphids trapped in potato fields of Picardie (northern France). These aphids were mainly cereal, crucifer and legume aphids, most likely associated to neighboring habitats o...

Although mineral oil spray is one of the most effective ways to control the transmission of non-persistent aphid-borne viruses in the field, its mode of action is poorly understood. In this study, the effects of mineral oil treatment of potato plants on host selection behaviour, growth, and reproduction of potato aphids, Macrosiphum euphorbiae (Tho...

The effects of potato [Solanum tuberosum L. (Solanaceae)] plant damage on the host plant-selection behaviour of the potato aphid, Macrosiphum euphorbiae Thomas (Homoptera: Aphididae), were studied. The damage inflicted to the plant was only of short duration and observations on aphid behaviour were made immediately following plant damage. The under...

Studies to determine possible differences in the pheromone communication system of three different populations of the corn stalk borer Sesamia nonagrioides (Lef.) in France. Spain. and Greece were carried out. The two main pheromone components (Z)-11-hexadecenyl acetate (Z11-16:Ac) and (Z)-11-hexadecenol (Z11-16:OH), were detected in all analyses w...

Field trials to evaluate efficacy of two sprayable formulations of a binary pheromone blend of the maize pest Sesamia nonagrioides, were carried out from 1997 to 1999 in Spain, Greece and France. Efficacy was measured through inhibition of trap catches in treated fields and reduction of pest population growth between the first and second generation...

Among lepidopteran insects, the female-produced sex pheromones are the most widely used chemical stimuli for pest management by (i) mating disruption, and (ii) monitoring adult insect populations in agricultural crops. Sesamia nonagrioides is one of the main pests on maize crops around the Mediterranean area and monitoring adult populations with sy...

S. nonagrioides, the corn stalk borer is one of the most important pests on maize crops all around the Mediterranean countries. Since several years, field trials on mating disruption were carried out on large scale against this pest. The sprayable formulation, Sesaline(R), tested during summer 1997 in south of France consisted of the two main compo...