Effects of Pea Aphids (Homoptera: Aphididae) on the Nitrogen Fixing Activity of Bacteria in the Root Nodules of Pea Plants

1 June 1984

journal article
research article
Published by Oxford University Press (OUP) in Journal of Economic Entomology

Vol. 77 (3) , 606-611
https://doi.org/10.1093/jee/77.3.606

Abstract

Different numbers of pea aphids, Acyrthosiphon pisum (Harris), were kept on pea plants, Pisum sativum (L.), bearing root nodules containing the symbiotic bacteria Rhizobium leguminosarum (Frank). Aphid feeding decreased acetylene-reducing activity of the bacteria by as much as 86%, whole plant dry weight up to 74%, nodule weight and number by 77 and 78%, respectively, and nitrogen content of plant tissue by a maximum of 84%. These effects were significant in both young plants 11 days after germination and in more mature plants after pod formation and were proportional to the number of aphids infesting the plants.

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