Effects of Conventional and Organic Fertilization on the Chemical Profile of <em>Sorghum bicolor</em> and the Preference of Sugarcane Aphids (<em>Melanaphis sacchari</em>)
2024
Ericka Nieves-Silva | Engelberto Sandoval-Castro | Ma. D. Castañeda-Antonio | Adriana Delgado-Alvarado | Arturo Huerta-De la Peña | Ignacio Ocampo-Fletes
<i>Melanaphis sacchari</i> is a cosmopolitan pest that causes losses in sorghum crops, so new management methods are needed. In addition, the type of fertilization used influences plant compositions and pest infestation, and allelochemicals are a promising method for the possible management of <i>M. sacchari</i>. In this work, we measured the preference of <i>M. sacchari</i> through chemical stimuli towards sorghum plants grown under greenhouse conditions without fertilization (F0), conventional fertilization (CF), and organic fertilization (OF). Leaves were collected from sorghum plants fertilized with 200 kg N ha<sup>−1</sup> using ammonium sulfate and poultry manure. Extracts were obtained using Soxhlet extraction, and the compounds were identified using a gas chromatograph coupled with mass spectrometry (GC-MS). Sorghum extracts were individually tested through bioassays to determine <i>M. sacchari</i> preference. The abundance and number of compounds in sorghum differed depending on the type of fertilization used. <i>M. sacchari</i> showed a preference for the extract from CF sorghum plants (76.66%) over the extract from OF plants (23.34%). Therefore, the type of fertilization can be used as a tactic to prevent higher infestations of <i>M. sacchari</i>. The biological activity of the compounds identified here with <i>M. sacchari</i> should be determined for future pest management strategies using allelochemicals, given that the sugarcane aphid uses chemical signals to locate its host plant.
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