• Korean Journal of Environmental Biology
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• v.37 no.3
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• pp.249-259
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• 2019

We investigated the tritrophic interactions associated with elevation and openness of dwarf bamboo (Sasa quelpaertensis Nakai) vegetation on Mt. Halla, Jeju Island. The interactions between dwarf bamboo plants and its consumers were investigated in four study sites with and without canopy along the elevation gradient. The ecological traits of dwarf bamboo included leaf area, water content, nitrogen content and carbon/nitrogen ratio. Arthropods were collected using a sweeping net and they were later divided into three different feeding guilds: herbivorous, omnivorous and predators. We found that the elevation and canopy openness on dwarf bamboo vegetation was positively related and as elevation increased and canopy opened, the bamboo densities and C/N ratio increased. However, the leaf area, water content and the N content decreased. The study sites with closed canopy indicated a relatively higher species richness of arthropods including insects. We concluded that the tritrophic interactions is closely related to the ecological characteristics of the dwarf bamboos, which is affected by elevation and canopy openness.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.26 no.3
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• pp.549-557
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• 2016

Aphids are a large group of hemipteran pests that affect the physiology, growth, and development of plants by using piercing mouthparts to consume fluids from the host. Based an recent data, aphids modulate the microbiomes of plants and thereby affect the overall outcome of the biological interaction. However, in a few reports, aboveground aphids manipulate the metabolism of the host and facilitate infestations by rhizosphere bacteria (rhizobacteria). In this study, we evaluated whether aphids alter the plant resistance that is mediated by the bacterial community of the root system. The rhizobacteria were affected by aphid infestation of pepper, and a large population of gram-positive bacteria was detected. Notably, Paenibacillus spp. were the unique gram-positive bacteria to respond to changes induced by the aphids. Paenibacillus polymyxa E681 was used as a rhizobacterium model to assess the recruitment of bacteria to the rhizosphere by the phloem-sucking of aphids and to test the effect of P. polymyxa on the susceptibility of plants to aphids. The root exudates secreted from peppers infested with aphids increased the growth rate of P. polymyxa E681. The application of P. polymyxa E681 to pepper roots promoted the colonization of aphids within 2 days of inoculation. Collectively, our results suggest that aphid infestation modulated the root exudation, which led to the recruitment of rhizobacteria that manipulated the resistance of peppers to aphids. In this study, new information is provided on how the infestation of insects is facilitated through insect-derived modulation of plant resistance with the attraction of gram-positive rhizobacteria.