@misc{RostasRufZabkaetal.2008,
  author    = {Rost{\´a}s, Michael and Ruf, Daniel and Zabka, Vanessa and Hildebrandt, Ulrich},
  title     = {Plant surface wax affects parasitoid's response to host footprints},
  organization    = {Michael Rost{\´a}s},
  url       = {http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-29201},
  year      = {2008},
  abstract  = {The plant surface is the substrate upon which herbivorous insects and natural enemies meet and thus represents the stage for interactions between the three trophic levels. Plant surfaces are covered by an epicuticular wax layer which is highly variable depending on species, cultivar or plant part. Differences in wax chemistry may modulate ecological interactions. We explored whether caterpillars of Spodoptera frugiperda, when walking over a plant surface, leave a chemical trail (kairomones) that can be detected by the parasitoid Cotesia marginiventris. Chemistry and micromorphology of cuticular waxes of two barley eceriferum wax mutants (cer-za.126, cer-yp.949) and wild type cv. Bonus (wt) were assessed. The plants were then used to investigate potential surface effects on the detectability of caterpillar kairomones. Here we provide evidence that C. marginiventris responds to chemical footprints of its host. Parasitoids were able to detect the kairomone on wild type plants and on both cer mutants but the response to cer-yp.949 (reduced wax, high aldehyde fraction) was less pronounced. Experiments with caterpillar-treated wt and mutant leaves offered simultaneously, confirmed this observation: no difference in wasp response was found when wt was tested against cer-za.126 (reduced wax, wt-like chemical composition) but wt was significantly more attractive than cer-yp.949. This demonstrates for the first time that the wax layer can modulate the detectability of host kairomones.},
  subject      = {Brackwespen},
  language  = {en}
}
@article{RostasEggert2008,
  author    = {Rost{\´a}s, Michael and Eggert, Katharina},
  title     = {Ontogenetic and spatio-temporal patterns of induced volatiles in Glycine max in the light of the optimal defence hypothesis},
  url       = {http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-26991},
  year      = {2008},
  abstract  = {Plants attacked by herbivorous insects emit a blend of volatile compounds that serve as important host location cues for parasitoid wasps. Variability in the released blend may exist on the whole-plant and within-plant level and can affect the foraging efficiency of parasitoids. We comprehensively assessed the kinetics of herbivore-induced volatiles in soybean in the context of growth stage, plant organ, leaf age, and direction of signal transport. The observed patterns were used to test the predictions of the optimal defence hypothesis (OD). We found that plants in the vegetative stage emitted 10-fold more volatiles per biomass than reproductive plants and young leaves emitted >2.6 times more volatiles than old leaves. Systemic induction in single leaves was stronger and faster by one day in acropetal than in basipetal direction while no systemic induction was found in pods. Herbivore-damaged leaves had a 200-fold higher release rate than pods. To some extent these findings support the OD: i) indirect defence levels were increased in response to herbivory and ii) young leaves, which are more valuable, emitted more volatiles. However, the fact that reproductive structures emitted no constitutive or very few inducible volatiles is in seeming contrast to the OD predictions. We argue that in case of volatile emission the OD can only partially explain the patterns of defence allocation due to the peculiarity that volatiles act as signals not as toxins or repellents.},
  subject      = {Chemische {\"O}kologie},
  language  = {en}
}