Research interests

I am interested in insect-plant interactions, particularly on how insects can cope with defensive metabolites from their host plants. I am currently working with insect sequestration and the specificity of herbivory induced plant volatiles and their ecological consequences.

My expertise areas are:

• Insect behavior
• Volatiles
• Metabolomics

Teaching activities

• Travaux Pratiques (TP) of Chemical Ecology for bachelor students
• Integrated Pest Management, Master Biology specialization Sustainable Agriculture

Publications

2020

Carla C. M. Arce, Vanitha Theepan, Bernardus C. J. Schimmel, Geoffrey Jaffuel, Matthias Erb, Ricardo A. R. Machado. 2020. Plant-derived CO2 mediates log-distance host location and quality asseeement by a root herbivore. bioRxiv, doi: https://doi.org/10.1101/2020.03.12.988691

Zoe Bont, Tobias Züst, Carla CM Arce, Meret Huber, Matthias Erb. 2020. Heritable variation in root secondary metabolites is associated with recent climate. Journal of Ecology. V.00, p.1-14.

Pamela Bruno, Ricardo AR Machado, Gaétan Glauser, …, Carla CM Arce*, Ted CJ Turlings*, 2020. Entomopathogenic nematodes from Mexico that can overcome the resistance mechanisms of the western corn rootworm. Scientific Reports. V. 10(1), p.1-12. *Corresponding authors

2019

Ricardo AR Machado, Lisa Thönen, Carla CM Arce, Vanitha Theepan, …, Matthias Erb. Engineering bacterial symbionts of nematodes improves their biocontrol potential to counter the western corn rootworm. 2019 Nature biotechnology. V. 38(5), p.600-608.

Xi Zhang, Cong van Doan, Carla C. M. Arce, Lingfei Hu, …, Christelle AM Robert, Ricardo AR Machado, Matthias Erb. Plant defense resistance in natural enemies of a specialist insect herbivore. 2019. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. V.116(46), p. 23174-23181.

Ricardo A. R. Machado*, Pamela Bruno, Carla C. M. Arce, …, Ted C. J. Turlings. Photorhabdus khanii subsp. guanajuatensis subsp. nov., isolated from Heterorhabditis atacamensis, and Photorhabdus luminescens subsp. mexicana subsp. nov., isolated from Heterorhabditis mexicana entomopathogenic nematodes. 2019. Int J Syst Evol Microbiology. DOI: 10.1099/ijsem.0.003154

Xi Zhang, Ricardo A.R. Machado, Cong Van Doan, Carla C. M. Arce,…, Christelle Robert. Entomopathogenic nematodes increase predation success by inducing specific cadaver volatiles that attract healthy herbivores. 2018. Preprint. DOI: 10.1101/442483.

2018

Ricardo A.R. Machado, Daniel Wüthrich, Peter Kuhnert, Carla C. M. Arce, …, Matthias Erb. Whole-genome-based revisit of Photorhabdus phylogeny: proposal for the elevation of most Photorhabdus subspecies to the species level and description of one novel species Photorhabdus bodei sp. nov., and one novel subspecies Photorhabdus laumondii subsp. clarkei subsp. nov. 2018. Int J Syst Evol Microbiology. V.68, p.2644-2681.

Ricardo A.R. Machado, Carla C.M. Arce, Michael A. McClure, Ian T. Baldwin and Matthias Erb. Aboveground herbivory induced jasmonates disproportionately reduce plant reproductive potential by facilitating root nematode infestation. 2018. Plant, Cell and Environment. V.41, p. 797-808.