Sink-source interactions between a galling aphid and its narrowleaf cottonwood host: Within and between plant variation

The authors examined within and between plant variation in the capacity of the leaf gallin aphid, Pemphigus betae, to manipulate the sink-source translocation patterns of its host, narrowleaf cottonwood (Populus angustifolia). Within a plant, a series of 14C-labeling experiments showed that P. betae actively manipulated host translocation patterns by acting as a strong sink and fed on assimilates produced in surrounding plant tissues serving as sources. Food resources drawn into the galled leaf from storage tissues in the stem and from surrounding leaves were a major resource for this herbivore in addition to resources from the galled leaf blade. Aphids compete for resources with natural plant sinks, such as developing fruits. In common gardens containing aphid resistant and aphid susceptible clones, I tested the hypothesis that aphid gall success on resistant trees is limited by competition between aphid-induced sinks and the plant's natural sinks, and that the intensity of intraplant competition was determined by the genetically determined architecture of the tree. Through bud removal, a resistant clone could be given the architecture of a susceptible clone. Aphid survival was increased two fold on architecturally modified resistant clones