Soybean aphids feed on soybean hairy roots.

Aphids were introduced to plates with individual hairy root systems produced by Agrobacterium rhizogenes infection of soybean cotyledons. Roots were kept attached to the cotyledon and the whole system was kept on paper filter wetted with water. Aphids fed on young (A) or older (B, C) roots. D. Quantification of aphid feeding preference. After five days of colonization, the number of aphids feeding on roots or cotyledons was recorded, and the percentage of aphids on each organ is reported. Error bars = standard error. Three independent experiments with three replicates each were analyzed using Student’s t-test.