Thesis (Ph. D.)--Oregon State University, 2002. / Typescript (photocopy). Includes bibliographical references (leaves 229-246). Also available on the World Wide Web.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--Rutgers University, 2007. / "Graduate Program in Ecology and Evolution." Includes bibliographical references.

In den vergangenen Jahren rückten Pflanzen-assoziierte Bakterien auf Grund ihrer Bedeutung für die Pflanzengesundheit und das ökologische Gleichgewicht zunehmend in den Fokus aktueller Forschungen. Trotz der stetig steigenden Zahl wissenschaftlicher Studien ist der Einfluss von Bewirtschaftungsmaßnahmen auf die Diversität dieser Bakteriengemeinschaften in Grünlandökosystemen ver-gleichsweise wenig untersucht. In dieser Studie haben wir neue und interessante Erkenntnisse über die Diversität von Pflanzen-assoziierten Bakterien in Grünlandökosystemen gewonnen. Sämtliche Untersuchungen dieser Arbeit wurden auf der GrassMan-Fläche in den Mittelgebirgslagen des Solling in Deutschland durchgeführt. Das GrassMan-Experiment wurde 2008 in einer Matrix von Wiesenplots schachbrett-artig auf historisch altem Grünland errichtet. Die Bewirtschaftungsintensität unterschied sich bezüglich der Häufigkeiten (einmal jährlich im Juli oder dreimal jährlich im Mai, Juli und September) und der Düngung (keine Düngung bzw. Düngung mit NPK). Außerdem wurde durch gezielten Herbizid-Einsatz gegen Monokotylen oder gegen Dikotylen ein Gradient in der Anzahl der Pflanzenarten erzeugt. Die Arbeit umfasst drei Hauptthemen. Erstens wurde der Einfluss verschiedener Bewirtschaftungsmaßnahmen auf die bakterielle Endophyten-gemeinschaft in den drei Grasarten Festuca rubra, Lolium perenne und Dactylis glomerata untersucht. Hierfür wurden im September 2010 und im April, Juli und September 2011 Pflanzenproben auf den Dikotylen-reduzierten Plots gesammelt. Die Umwelt-DNS wurde aus den Proben extrahiert und als Template für 16S PCRs eingesetzt. Die Struktur der bakteriellen Endophyten-Gemeinschaft wurde mittels DGGE-Analyse der erhaltenen PCR-Produkte untersucht. Wir konnten Unterschiede der Endophyten-Gemeinschaftsstrukturen hinsichtlich der verschiedenen Bewirtschaftungsintensitäten feststellen. Während die Düngung einen starken Effekt auf die bakterielle endophytische Diversität sowohl in F. rubra als auch in L. perenne hatte, wurden die bakteriellen Endo-phyten in D. glomerata nicht dadurch beeinflusst. Die Proben von L. perenne, die von den ungedüngten Plots stammten, bildeten zudem eindeutige Gruppen bei der Analyse der DGGE-Banden bezüglich der zwei Schnitthäufigkeiten. Somit beeinflusste auch die Mahd die bakterielle Endophyten-Gemeinschaft in den Pflanzen. Weiterhin konnten wir einen starken saisonalen Effekt auf die Struktur der endophytischen Gemeinschaft nachweisen. Da saisonale Veränderungen und die Pflanzenart die Zusammensetzung der endophytischen Bakteriengemeinschaft beeinflussten, können sich die Auswirkungen unterschiedlicher Bewirtschaf-tungsintensitäten mit der Zeit und der untersuchten Pflanzenart verändern. Dieses Ergebnis sollte bei zukünftigen Studien berücksichtigt werden. Das zweite Ziel dieser Arbeit war die Beantwortung der Frage, wie sich oberirdische Herbivorie auf die Bakteriengemeinschaft in der Rhizosphäre auswirkt. Hierfür wurde im Herbst 2010 ein Lysimeter-Experiment auf der GrassMan-Fläche errichtet. Nach einer zweiwöchigen Herbivorie durch Grashüpfer und Schnecken im Sommer 2011 wurden Bodenproben von jedem Lysimeter genommen. Um Einblicke in die Zusammensetzung der bakteriellen Gemeinschaft in der Rhizosphäre zu erhalten, wurde die Gesamt-DNS aus den Bodenproben extrahiert und als Template in 16S rDNS PCRs eingesetzt. Die Gemeinschaftsstruktur wurde mittels DGGE-Analyse bzw. Pyrosequenzierung der erhaltenen PCR Produkte untersucht. Die Herbivorie hatte keinen Einfluss auf die Anzahl der Bakterien (richness), während leichte Änderungen in der relativen Abundanz von einigen Bakteriengruppen festgestellt wurden. So war zum Beispiel die relative Abundanz einer unkultivierten Acidobacterium-Art in den Herbivorie-Lysimetern erhöht. Bestandteil des Lysimeter-Experiments war zudem die Untersuchung des Einflusses der Pflanzenartenanzahl und der verschiedenen Bewirtschaftungs-maßnahmen auf die bakterielle Gemeinschaft in der Rhizosphäre. Der Einsatz von Herbiziden und eine niedrigere Schnittfrequenz reduzierten die Artenanzahl (richness) der Bakterien in der Rhizosphäre. Die Düngung hatte keinen Einfluss auf die Anzahl der Arten. Weitere Analysen zeigten, dass eine Vielzahl von verschiedenen bakteriellen Taxa in der Rhizosphäre durch die untersuchten Maßnahmen beeinflusst wurde. So war die Abundanz der Acidobacteria in den gedüngten Plots signifikant geringer. Das Gegenteil trat bei den Actinobacteria auf. Abschließend lässt sich sagen, dass Pflanzen-assoziierte Bakterien sowohl in der Endosphäre und Rhizosphäre durch Bewirtschaftungsmaßnahmen beeinflusst werden. Die Untersuchung der Wirkung von verschiedenen Bewirtschaftungsintensitäten im Grünland und von oberirdischer Herbivorie auf Pflanzen-assoziierte Bakterien kann zu einem besseren Verständnis der multitrophischen Interaktionen zwischen Pflanzenart, Bakteriengemeinschaft und oberirdischen Herbivoren führen. Außerdem können uns die Ergebnisse dieser Arbeit helfen, die Effekte unterschiedlicher Bewirtschaftungsmaßnahmen auf Pflanzen-assoziierte Bakteriengemeinschaften und damit zusammenhängende Effekte auf das Bodenökosystem vorherzusagen.

Insect-symbiont interactions have many bioecological consequences to the host. Their relationships expand through a complex network that includes other microorganisms, interactions with the environment and other trophic levels. An extensive literature has been produced on bacterial symbionts and aphids, especially for polyphagous aphids from North America and Europe, such as Acyrthosiphon pisum (Harris). They indicated symbionts influence host nutrition, heat tolerance, defense against natural enemies, virus transmission, host plant exploitation, among others. However, the outcome from host-symbiont interactions is context-dependent, with the expressed phenotype depending on intra and interspecific variations, symbiont strain, and biotic/abiotic stimuli. We explored the interaction between aphids and associated symbionts, aiming to contribute to this field by exploring new aphid systems, and focused on Aphis (Toxoptera) citricidus (Kirkaldy) and associated microbiota. We investigated the influence of the feeding habits on symbiont diversity in an oligophaogus, A. citricida, as compared to a polyphagous species, Aphis (Toxoptera) aurantii Boyer de Fonscolombe. We employed several approaches (biological, metagenomics, genomic, and proteomic) to investigate i) the impact of host plants on fitness traits and primary symbiont abundance in the oligophagous and polyphagous species, ii) differences in the draft genome of the primary aphid symbiont between A. citricidus and A. aurantii, iii) the influence of host plant in secondary symbiont distribution in A. citricidus, iv) secondary symbiont richness and abundance in both aphids, and investigate the effects of Spiroplasma infections v) in the fitness traits, vi) transcriptome and ii) proteome of A. citricidus when reared on two host plants (sweet orange and orange jasmine). Our data indicated that sweet orange is a better host plant than orange jasmine for both aphids, and that A. citricidus was more negatively affected by lower-quality host than A. aurantii. A. citricidus and A. aurantii had different strategies regarding Buchnera growth and the use of food in different stages of development. We observed differences in the draft genome of Buchnera associated to A. citricidus and A. aurantii. Host plant affected secondary symbiont abundance, but Spiroplasma was the most abundant symbiont in both aphids. Spiroplasma had neutral effects on A. citricidus biology, but affected host transcriptome and proteome. The host plant affected gene expression of A. citricidus, but the effect was dependent on Spiroplasma infection. Transcriptome analysis indicated Spiroplasma down-regulated aphid immune response genes on sweet orange, while regulating an entire different set of genes on orange jasmine, mainly chaperonins. Gene transcription of A. citricidus was strongly influenced by the host plant. But while a large number of transcripts were up-regulated in uninfected aphids in sweet orange as compared to orange jasmine, the same set of genes had an opposite pattern of expression in Spiroplasma-infected aphids. Comparative proteomic analysis of Spiroplasma-infected and uninfected aphids on sweet orange and orange jasmine demonstrated regulation of a larger number proteins on orange jasmine than on sweet orange. Spiroplasma down-regulated the immune response of aphids and up-regulated proteins related to nutritional processes when developing on a low-quality host plant, orange jasmine, while no such trend was observed on sweet orange. / A associação insetos - bactérias simbiontes resulta em várias implicações bioecológicas para o hospedeiro e se estende em uma rede de interações que inclue outros microrganismos, o ambiente e outros níveis tróficos. A interação bactérias simbiontes e pulgões tem sido amplamente estudada, especialmente em espécies polífagas do hemisfério norte, tal como o pulgão modelo Acyrthosiphon pisum (Harris). Essas pesquisas indicam que simbiontes influenciam vários aspectos ecológicos do hospedeiro, tais como: nutrição, resistência ao estresse térmico e inimigos naturais, capacidade de transmissão de fitovírus, uso de plantas hospedeiras, entre outros. Entretanto, o resultado da interação simbionte-pulgão é contexto dependente, no qual o fenótipo depende da variabilidade intra- e interespecífica, da linhagem do simbionte e de diversos fatores bióticos e abióticos. Assim, este trabalho aborda as interações do pulgão Aphis (Toxoptera) citricidus (Kirkaldy) e seus simbiontes, com o objetivo de contribuir com um sistema ecológico diferente. Foi investigada a influência da estratégia alimentar na diversidade da microbiota, comparando-se uma espécie oligófaga, A. citricidus, a outra polífaga, Aphis (Toxoptera) aurantii Boyer de Fonscolombe. Foram utilizadas diversas abordagens experimentais (biológica, metagenômica, genômica, transcritômica e proteômica) para atingir os objetivos de i) investigar o impacto das plantas hospedeiras na aptidão biológica de A. citricidus e A. aurantii e sua consequência ao simbionte primário, ii) explorar as diferenças no genoma do simbionte primário de A. citricidus e A. aurantii, iii) investigar a influência da planta hospedeira na distribuição de simbiontes secundários em A. citricidus, iv) pesquisar a riqueza e abundância de simbiontes secundários nas duas espécies de pulgão e indagar sobre a influência de Spiroplasma v) na aptidão biológica, vi) no transcritoma e vii) na proteômica de A. citricidus em duas plantas hospedeiras (laranja vs. murta). Os resultados indicaram ser laranja o melhor hospedeiro para ambos pulgões, sendo A. citricidus mais sensível à planta hospedeira que A. aurantii. As duas espécies de pulgão utilizam estratégias distintas para controlar o crescimento de Buchnera, assim como a utilização do alimento influenciou diferentemente cada fase do desenvolvimento dos pulgões estudados. A planta hospedeira também influenciou a abundância de simbiontes secundários; porém, Spiroplasma foi o simbionte secundário mais abundante em ambas espécies. Spiroplasma não afetou a biologia de A. citricidus, mas causou alterações no transcritoma e no proteoma do hospedeiro. A planta hospedeira também exerceu forte regulação na transcrição gênica de A. citricidus, mas esse efeito foi dependente da infecção do pulgão por Spiroplasma. Análises de transcritoma em pulgões infectados indicaram a regulação de transcritos relacionados à resposta imunológica quando em laranja, mas de chaperoninas em murta. A regulação gênica de A. citricidus foi fortemente influenciada pela planta hospedeira, mas enquanto insetos livres de Spiroplasma apresentaram superexpressão gênica em laranja quando comparada a murta, pulgões infectados com esse simbionte apresentaram padrão de expressão oposto para o mesmo conjunto de transcritos. Análises comparativas do proteoma de pulgões infectados ou não por Spiroplasma nas plantas hospedeiras estudadas indicaram diminuição dos mecanismos de defesa em favor de um aumento de proteínas ligadas à nutrição em insetos infectados quando se alimentando em murta.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--Ohio State University, 2004. / Title from first page of PDF file. Document formatted into pages; contains xvi, 166 p.; also includes graphics (some col.). Includes bibliographical references. Available online via OhioLINK's ETD Center.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--College of William and Mary. / Vita. Includes bibliographical references. Also available online.

Submitted by (ana.araujo@ufrpe.br) on 2016-08-23T12:05:53Z No. of bitstreams: 1 Joanny Kelly Silva dos Santos Martins.pdf: 1467107 bytes, checksum: 51dc871b39b7f000a36a8445217f21da (MD5) / Made available in DSpace on 2016-08-23T12:05:54Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Joanny Kelly Silva dos Santos Martins.pdf: 1467107 bytes, checksum: 51dc871b39b7f000a36a8445217f21da (MD5) Previous issue date: 2015-07-21 / Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior - CAPES / The objective of this study was to survey the richness and abundance of pollinators, herbivores, ants and other predators associated to Ipomoea carnea subs. fistulosa, addition to assessing the indirect effects of florivory and the influence of patrolling ants associated with extrafloral nectaries on pollinators. The study was conducted durig eight months (August/2014 – March/2015) at the Fazenda Tamanduá, municipality of Santa Terezinha, Paraíba state, Brazil. It was quantified the number of pollinator visits in flowers with and without patrolling ants and flowers with simulated florivory. The number of herbivores per inflorescence and the occurrence of florivory were recorded in an experiment conducted from 5 am to 5 pm. Arthropods were collected monthly to record the richness and abundance. The temporal variation of florivory and production of buds, flowers and fruits were recorded monthly. The results of the effect of the damage and the presence of floral ants showed that both cause a decrease in the total number of visits. This can be explained by the fact that the floral damage was the loss of important floral attributes. Additionally, bees can evaluate the pattern of flower symmetry distance and detect predators corroborating the hypothesis that predators such as ants, remove pollinators of plant-pollinator systems. These effects may be considered risky for Ipomoea carnea subs. fistulosa, since it is a self-incompatible species and depends on the activity of pollinators for its fertilization. The composition of the arthropod fauna associated with plant species under study was represented by five groups: Araneae, Coleoptera, Hymenoptera, Diptera and Hemiptera. The highest abundance of herbivores occurred in months with low rainfall. The florivory rates were high, and more severe in the dry season. The number of ants associated to extrafloral nectaries increased directly with the abundance of herbivores over months. The multitrophic system studied showed complex, featuring a high richness of associated arthropods and various guilds among the trophic levels. During the dry season in the caatinga, Ipomoea carnea subs. fistulosa is one of the few species that persist with leaves and flowers, this enables the populations of I. carnea constitute major indicator spots resources for present herbivores. This may have been one of the main causes for the abundance of herbivores and floral herbivory rate was higher in the months with less precipitation. Overall the data suggest that abundance of herbivores was related to the quality and availability of plant resources, reflecting on other trophic levels as in a bottom-up model of trophic cascade. / O objetivo deste trabalho foi realizar um levantamento da riqueza e abundância dos polinizadores, herbívoros, formigas e predadores de insetos associados a Ipomoea carnea subs. fistulosa, bem como avaliar os efeitos indiretos da florivoria e a influência do patrulhamento de formigas associadas aos nectários extraflorais sobre os polinizadores. Este trabalho foi realizado em oito meses de coleta (agosto de 2014 a março de 2015) na Fazenda Tamanduá, no município de Santa Terezinha, PB. Foi quantificado o numero de visitas de polinizadores em flores com e sem patrulhamento de formigas e em flores com florivoria simulada. O número de herbívoros por inflorescência e a ocorrência de florivoria foi registrado em um experimento realizado das 5h às 17h. Os artrópodes foram coletados mensalmente para registro da riqueza e abundância. E a variação temporal da florivoria e produção de botões, flores e frutos foi registrada mensalmente. Os resultados do efeito do dano floral e presença de formigas mostraram que ambos provocam decréscimo no número de visitas totais. Isso pode ser justificado pelo fato de que o dano floral consistiu na perda de atributos florais importantes. Adicionalmente abelhas podem avaliar o padrão de simetria da flor à distância e detectar predadores corroborando com a hipótese de que predadores, tal como formigas, retiram polinizadores dos sistemas planta-polinizador. Estes efeitos para Ipomoea carnea subs. fistulosa podem ser considerados de risco, uma vez que é um espécie autoincompatível e depende da atividade dos polinizadores para que a sua fecundação ocorra. A composição da fauna de artrópodes associados a espécie vegetal em estudo foi representada por cinco grupos: Araneae, Coleoptera, Hymenoptera, Diptera e Hemiptera. O sistema multitrófico estudado se mostrou complexo, apresentando uma grande riqueza de artrópodes associados e variadas guildas dentre os níveis tróficos. Durante a estação seca na caatinga Ipomoea carnea subs. fistulosa, é uma das poucas espécies que persistem com folhas e flores, fato que faz com que as populações de I. carnea constituam grandes manchas indicadoras de recursos para os herbívoros presentes. Esta pode ter sido uma das principais causas para que a abundância de herbívoros e taxa de herbivoria floral tenha sido mais alta nos meses com menor precipitação. De maneira geral os dados sugerem que abundância de herbívoros respondeu a qualidade e disponibilidade dos recursos vegetais, refletindo nos demais níveis tróficos como em um modelo bottom-up de cascata trófica.

Earth’s population is expected to reach 9 billion by 2050. Ensuring food security for the growing world population is one of today’s society’s major challenges and responsibilities. Aquatic products have the potential to contribute significantly in the growing population’s dietary requirements. Since increasing the pressure on most natural fish stocks is now widely agreed not to be an option, the aquaculture sector needs to grow. The challenge is to increase aquaculture production without depleting natural resources or damaging the environment but also in a financially sustainable way. Integrated Multitrophic Aquaculture (IMTA) is one method of sustainable aquatic production. Integrating bioremediatory organisms that extract particulate organic matter or dissolved inorganic nutrients with monocultures of fed species has the potential of reducing the particulate and soluble waste loads from effluents, whilst producing a low-input protein source that may also increase the farm income. IMTA is a viable solution for mitigating the environmental impact of waste released from fish farms. The fish waste is exploited as a food source for lower trophic, extractive organisms giving an added value to the investment in feed. Studies up to now have shown that under experimental conditions as well as in small-scale commercial studies, various filter-feeding, deposit-feeding and grazing species can ingest fish waste particles. The aim now is to achieve IMTA optimization, where extractive organisms can ingest most of the finfish waste food and excretions. Any such design is likely to be complex incorporating a multidisciplinary approach, and therefore to date a reason why most studies have failed to prove the environmental and economic benefits of IMTA. Consequently, the aim of this study is to develop ways of selecting an ideal combination of species for a specific locality, manage the cultures in a way that ensures the maximum nutrient recycling feasible per unit of area; and ensure high growth rate of the extractive organisms while being financially beneficial. The approach taken was a combination of investigative literature reviews, computer modelling work and small-scale growth trials to determine the relative growth of extractive organisms fed fishfeed and waste, followed by the development of a systems-based model of interaction and growth efficiency for combinations of organisms within an IMTA system. This study starts by investigating, with small-scale laboratory experiments, the potential of two organic extractive species, the lugworm, Arenicola marina and the sea urchin, Psammechinus miliaris, as organic extractive components of IMTA systems. Their ability to consume and assimilate salmon faeces was evaluated as well as their remediation efficiency. This was done by comparing the carbon, nitrogen and phosphorus content of the pellet-faeces mixture to that of the sea urchin faeces and sea urchin gonad content. Their growth, gonadosomatic index (GSI) (for the sea urchins), tissue carbon, nitrogen and phosphorous content were compared between seaweed diets and a diet consisting of a mixture of salmon faeces and feed pellets. The results showed statistically significant gonad carbon content for the sea urchins fed with faeces. Similarly, statistically significant higher phosphorous content was found in the tissues of the lugworms fed with the mixture of salmon faeces and pellets than in the lugworms of the other two groups. The subsequent and main phase of this study was the development of a model for optimising IMTA performance. The modelling process included model development, run, optimization and risk assessment. The IMTA model developed consisted of Atlantic salmon Salmo salar, the sea urchin Paracentrotus lividus and the macroalgae Ulva sp. It simulates the growth as well as the uptake and release of nitrogen by these organisms under environmental conditions of a hypothetical site on the west coast of Scotland. The aim of the model was to maximize the potential of IMTA in terms of productivity and to reduce the amount of nutrients that are released in the environment, and thus to contribute towards a more sustainable and productive form of aquaculture. The IMTA model developed can be re-parameterised to simulate the growth and nutrient uptake of different species and the growth and nutrient uptake under different environmental conditions. This capacity of the model was used in order to do a comparative study of the nitrogen bioremediation potential of three different invertebrate species, cultivated as part of an IMTA. These species were the lugworm (Arenicola marina), the blue mussel (Mytilus edulis) and the purple sea urchin (Paracentrotus lividus). The results of this comparative study showed that weight for weight, M. edulis is more efficient in removing POM than P. lividus that is in turn better than A. marina with regard to the amount of nitrogen they can assimilate. But in terms of cultivation area required for the production of the same total biomass, P. lividus was better at removing POM followed by M. edulis and then by A. marina.

Les parasitoïdes sont des insectes dont le cycle de vie se divise en (i) un stade adulte libre durant lequel la femelle dépose des œufs dans, sur ou à proximité des hôtes et (ii) des stades immatures parasites durant lesquels les larves se développent en consommant leur hôte. Ils sont impliqués dans la régulation de la population de leur(s) hôte(s) et sont largement utilisés en lutte biologique pour réduire les dégâts causés par des ravageurs de cultures dans les agroécosystèmes. L’intensité de cette régulation dépend notamment de la gamme d’hôtes du parasitoïde c.à.d. le nombre d’espèces hôtes différentes dans lesquels il est capable de compléter son développement. La gamme d’hôtes théorique d’un parasitoïde a été largement étudiée et est déterminée par sa capacité à localiser, reconnaître et parasiter son hôte (gamme d'hôtes comportemental) et/ou sa capacité à utiliser les ressources de l’hôte et à contourner ses défenses immunitaires (gamme d'hôtes physiologiques). Cependant, les caractéristiques biotiques et abiotiques environnementales, pouvant potentiellement impacter les traits comportementaux et physiologiques des parasitoïdes et finalement la gamme d’hôtes théorique de ces derniers, ont été très peu étudié. C’est dans ce contexte que j’ai développé ma thèse avec pour but principal d’étudier l’impact de différents facteurs écologiques sur la gamme d’hôtes des parasitoïdes. Pour cela, j’ai choisi comme modèle d’étude les parasitoïdes de pucerons, largement utilisés en lutte biologique, et j’ai étudié le rôle (1) des goulots d’étranglement génétique intervenant lors de l’introduction de petites populations de parasitoïdes dans de nouveaux environnements (par exemple, en lutte biologique classique), (2) de la phylogénie des hôtes et des plantes hôtes, (3) des effets bottom-up du stress hydrique chez les plantes hôtes des pucerons, (4) de la relation entre (i) la qualité des pucerons en tant qu’hôte pour la larve de parasitoïde et (ii) la qualité du puceron en tant que source de nourriture (miellat) pour l’adulte et (5) des interactions indirectes induites par la présence d’hôtes alternatifs sub-optimaux, sur la gamme d’hôte théorique des parasitoïdes. La phylogénie des hôtes et des plantes hôtes ont un effet direct sur la gamme d’hôtes des parasitoïdes tandis que les goulots d’étranglement génétique, les effets bottom-up de la plante, la nutrition des parasitoïdes adultes et les interactions indirectes semblent impacter seulement indirectement la gamme d’hôtes des parasitoïdes de pucerons via une modulation de la fitness et/ou taux de parasitisme. Chaque environnement étant différent, l’'étude de l'impact des facteurs écologiques sur la gamme d'hôtes des parasitoïdes est déterminante ; ce travail de thèse a permis de mieux comprendre certains mécanismes impliqués dans le fonctionnement des communautés de parasitoïdes dans les écosystèmes, ainsi que dans l’optimisation possible de programmes de lutte biologique. / Parasitoids are insects whose adult females deposit eggs in, on or near hosts and immatures stages develop by host consumption. They are involved in host population regulation and are largely used in biological control to reduce the damages caused by pests in agroecosystems. Their ability to control pest populations mainly depends on their host range i.e., the number of host species enabling offspring production. The parasitoid host range has been largely studied and may depend on its ability to localize, select and sting their hosts (behavioral host range) and/or its ability to consume and circumvent the hosts physiological defenses (physiological host range). However, each ecosystem has his own biotic and abiotic characteristics that can modulate both behavioral and physiological traits of parasitoids but they implication in the host range modulation have rarely been tested. In this context, the objective of my thesis was to evaluate the impact of different ecological factors on parasitoid host ranges. More specifically, I studied the impact of (i) the genetic bottleneck due to the introduction of small parasitoid population in a new area (through classical biological control notably), (ii) the host and host plant phylogenies, (iii) the bottom-up effects of drought stress, (iv) the relationship between the quality of the host and its ability to produce food for the parasitoid and (v) the parasitoid-mediated indirect interactions between unsuitable and suitable hosts, on the aphid parasitoid host range (high implication in biological control). We demonstrated that the aphids and host plant phylogenies are strongly involved in shaping the ecological host range of parasitoids whereas the other factors tested may only modulate the parasitoid fitness and parasitism rate; which may, finally, indirectly modulate the parasitoid host range. Studied the impact of ecological factors on parasitoid host range seems determinant; this thesis enables to better understand some mechanisms involved in parasitoid community functioning and to potentially optimize biological control programs.

Les interactions multi-trophiques jouent un rôle clé dans la structuration des agrosystèmes et régissent la dynamique des populations qui les composent. L’objectif de cette thèse fut (i) d’étudier la perturbation des interactions liée à une espèce invasive (Tuta absoluta) dans les cultures de tomates européennes, (ii) de rechercher de nouveaux auxiliaires autochtones, puis (iii) d’évaluer l’efficacité de ces auxiliaires lorsqu’ils sont intégrés dans l’agrosystème. Nous avons montré que de nouvelles interactions sont apparues suite à l’invasion, notamment la compétition apparente entre les aleurodes et T. absoluta en présence du prédateur généraliste et omnivore M. pygmaeus. Dans un second temps, nous avons recherché de nouveaux auxiliaires, en se focalisant d’abord sur les trichogrammes, Trichogramma achaeae étant déjà commercialisé contre T. absoluta en France. Les expérimentations de laboratoire et de terrain n’ont pas permis de mettre en évidence un trichogramme plus intéressant que celui déjà commercialisé. De plus, nous avons observé une prédation intra-guilde de M. pygmaeus sur les trichogrammes juvéniles i.e. œufs parasités, et nous avons montré que T. absoluta n’était pas un hôte approprié pour ces parasitoïdes. Les trichogrammes ne s’installant pas sur la culture, les études concernant les parasitoïdes oophages se sont arrêtées là et nous nous sommes intéressés aux parasitoïdes larvaires. La biologie de deux parasitoïdes larvaires a été étudiée et a souligné l’intérêt de Stenomesius japonicus (Eulophidae) en tant que potentiel agent de lutte biologique contre T. absoluta. Malgré les interactions négatives subies par le parasitoïde, des expérimentations sous serre en conditions réalistes ont montré que le prédateur et le parasitoïde larvaire pouvaient coexister pendant plusieurs mois. Cela a été montré y compris en présence d’une proie alternative pour le prédateur omnivore. / Multi-trophic interactions play a key role in structuring agro-ecosystems and regulating arthropod population dynamics. The objective of the PhD was (i) to study the possible disruptions of biotic interactions owing to the recent invasion by T. absoluta in European tomato crops, (ii) to identify local natural enemies attacking T. absoluta, (iii) to evaluate their effectiveness against T. absoluta when integrated into the agro-ecosystem. We showed that new interactions occurred after the arrival of T. absoluta, mainly apparent competition between whiteflies and T. absoluta, in presence of the omnivorous and generalist predator M. pygmaeus. We recorded possible new biocontrol agents and focused first on Trichogramma parasitoids, as Trichogramma achaeae was promptly commercialized against T. absoluta in France. Laboratory and field experiments failed to detect promising Trichogramma strains. In addition, intraguild predation of M. pygmaeus on parasitoid juveniles i.e. parasitized eggs, was observed and we demonstrated that T. absoluta was not a suitable host for Trichogramma parasitoids. Therefore, further studies switched on parasitoids of larval stages of T. absoluta. We demonstrated the importance of Stenomesius japonicus (Eulophidae) as a possible biological control agent against T. absoluta. The parasitoid was able to reproduce on T. absoluta over several generations under laboratory and greenhouse conditions. Despite negative interactions between the predator and the larval parasitoid, further greenhouse experiments demonstrated that two competitors can coexist for several months. Moreover, the presence of an alternative prey for the omnivorous predator (whitefly) in the agro-ecosystem did not prompt larval parasitoid exclusion, and the parasitoid remained in the crop even in the presence of other prey for the predator.