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The Applied Plant-Insect Interactions lab at LSU studies basic and applied aspects of plant-insect interactions. Experiments are primarily conducted in rice, an important model system for the study of plant-pest interactions and an important staple food globally. The most important insect pests of rice in Louisiana are the rice water weevil (Lissorhoptrus oryzophilus), the rice stink bug (Oebalus pugnax), and a complex of stem-boring Lepidopterans.Areas of research with these pests include the biochemical and physiological bases of plant resistance and tolerance to herbivores, identification of resistant plant varieties and their integration into management programs, hormonal mediation of plant resistance, trait-mediated interactions and their implications for pest management, plant mycorrhizal associations and their implications for plant resistance, the use of silicon, biostimulants, and elicitors of plant resistance in pest management, and the conceptual basis of plant resistance research.
