Si-Jun Zheng

TL;DR: The recent discoveries on plant-mediated interactions between beneficial belowground microbes and aboveground insects are reviewed to review the molecular and physiological mechanisms involved.

TL;DR: Interference by a phloem-feeding insect, the whitefly Bemisia tabaci, with indirect plant defenses induced by spider mites is reported, concluding that in dual-infested Lima bean plants the suppression of the JA signaling pathway by whitefly feeding is not due to enhanced SA levels.

TL;DR: The data show that the leaf chewer and phloem feeder asymmetrically interact not via competition as would be expected from interspecific herbivores but instead via facilitation; the phloen feeder attenuated JA-related plant defences, thus facilitating the growth and development of the leaf chewers.

TL;DR: The effect of herbivory by the phloem-feeding whitefly Bemisia tabaci on the induced indirect defense of Arabidopsis thaliana plants to Plutella xylostella caterpillars is addressed, that is, the attraction of the parasitoid wasp Diadegma semiclausum.

TL;DR: This study presents the first data on rhizobacteria-induced systemic susceptibility to an herbivorous insect, supporting the pattern proposed for other belowground beneficial microbes and aboveground phloem feeders and providing further evidence that at the transcript level, soil-borne microbes modify plant-aphid interactions.