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Wolfin MS, Chilson RR, Thrall J, Liu Y, Volo S, Cha DH, Loeb GM, Linn CE. Proximate Mechanisms of Host Plant Location by a Specialist Phytophagous Insect, the Grape Berry Moth, Paralobesia Viteana. J Chem Ecol 2019; 45:946-958. [PMID: 31755018 DOI: 10.1007/s10886-019-01112-1] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/20/2019] [Revised: 09/12/2019] [Accepted: 10/03/2019] [Indexed: 12/01/2022]
Abstract
There are contrasting hypotheses regarding the role of plant volatiles in host plant location. We used the grape berry moth (GBM; Paralobesia viteana)-grape plant (Vitis spp.) complex as a model for studying the proximate mechanisms of long distance olfactory-mediated, host-plant location and selection by a specialist phytophagous insect. We used flight tunnel assays to observe GBM female in-flight responses to host (V. riparia) and non-host (apple, Malus domestica; and gray dogwood, Cornus racimosa,) odor sources in the form of plant shoots, extracts of shoots, and synthetic blends. Gas chromatography-electroantennographic detection and gas chromatography/mass spectrometry analyses were used to identify antennal-active volatile compounds. All antennal-active compounds found in grape shoots were also present in dogwood and apple shoots. Female GBM flew upwind to host and non-host extracts and synthetic blends at similar levels, suggesting discrimination is not occurring at long distance from the plant. Further, females did not land on sources releasing plant extracts and synthetic blends, suggesting not all landing cues were present. Additionally, mated and unmated moths displayed similar levels of upwind flight responses to all odor sources, supporting the idea that plant volatiles are not functioning solely as ovipositional cues. The results of this study support a hypothesis that GBM females are using volatile blends to locate a favorable habitat rather than a specific host plant, and that discrimination is occurring within the habitat, or even post-landing.
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Affiliation(s)
- Michael S Wolfin
- Department of Entomology, Cornell AgriTech at the New York Agricultural Experiment Station, Cornell University, Geneva, NY, USA. .,Department of Entomology, Pennsylvania State University, State College, PA, USA.
| | - Ronald R Chilson
- Department of Entomology, Cornell AgriTech at the New York Agricultural Experiment Station, Cornell University, Geneva, NY, USA
| | - Jonathan Thrall
- Biology Department, Hobart and William Smith Colleges, Geneva, NY, USA
| | - Yuxi Liu
- Biology Department, Hobart and William Smith Colleges, Geneva, NY, USA
| | - Sara Volo
- Biology Department, Hobart and William Smith Colleges, Geneva, NY, USA
| | - Dong H Cha
- USDA-ARS, Daniel K. Inouye US Pacific Basin Agricultural Research Center, Hilo, HI, USA
| | - Gregory M Loeb
- Department of Entomology, Cornell AgriTech at the New York Agricultural Experiment Station, Cornell University, Geneva, NY, USA
| | - Charles E Linn
- Department of Entomology, Cornell AgriTech at the New York Agricultural Experiment Station, Cornell University, Geneva, NY, USA
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Borrero-Echeverry F, Bengtsson M, Nakamuta K, Witzgall P. Plant odor and sex pheromone are integral elements of specific mate recognition in an insect herbivore. Evolution 2018; 72:2225-2233. [PMID: 30095166 PMCID: PMC6220987 DOI: 10.1111/evo.13571] [Citation(s) in RCA: 17] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/23/2017] [Accepted: 07/21/2018] [Indexed: 01/04/2023]
Abstract
Specific mate recognition relies on the chemical senses in most animals, and especially in nocturnal insects. Two signal types mediate premating olfactory communication in terrestrial habitats: sex pheromones, which blend into an atmosphere of plant odorants. We show that host plant volatiles affect the perception of sex pheromone in males of the African cotton leafworm Spodoptera littoralis and that pheromone and plant volatiles are not perceived as independent messages. In clean air, S. littoralis males are attracted to single synthetic pheromone components or even the pheromone of a sibling species, oriental cotton leafworm S. litura. Presence of host plant volatiles, however, reduces the male response to deficient or heterospecific pheromone signals. That plant cues enhance discrimination of sex pheromone quality confirms the idea that specific mate recognition in noctuid moths has evolved in concert with adaptation to host plants. Shifts in either female host preference or sex pheromone biosynthesis give rise to new communication channels that have the potential to initiate or contribute to reproductive isolation.
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Affiliation(s)
| | - Marie Bengtsson
- Chemical Ecology Unit, Department of Plant Protection Biology, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, Alnarp 230 53, Sweden
| | - Kiyoshi Nakamuta
- Graduate School of Horticulture, Chiba University, Matsudo, Chiba 271-8510, Japan
| | - Peter Witzgall
- Chemical Ecology Unit, Department of Plant Protection Biology, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, Alnarp 230 53, Sweden
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Lin X, Wang B, Du Y. Key genes of the sex pheromone biosynthesis pathway in female moths are required for pheromone quality and possibly mediate olfactory plasticity in conspecific male moths in Spodoptera litura. INSECT MOLECULAR BIOLOGY 2018; 27:8-21. [PMID: 28741319 DOI: 10.1111/imb.12335] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 05/28/2023]
Abstract
Ninety sex pheromone biosynthesis genes in Spodoptera litura were identified in transcriptome data and were investigated and classified into the following five groups: fatty acid synthase, beta oxidase, fatty acyl-coenzyme A (CoA) reductase, desaturase and acetyl-CoA acetyltransferase. Fourteen female-specific genes were identified through semi-quantitative PCR, and 15 additional genes had expression levels that were 3- to 10-fold higher in females than in males. The majority of the genes had higher expression levels in the sex pheromone glands. Injection of double-stranded RNA (dsRNA) against nine selected genes showed that down-regulation of Desaturase 3 (Des3), Des5 or fatty acyl coenzyme A reductase 17 (FAR17) significantly changed the ratio of the four sex pheromone components (Z,E) -9,11-tetradecadienyl acetate (Z9E11-14:Ac), (Z,E)-9,12-Tetradecadienyl acetate(Z9E12-14:Ac), (Z)-9-tetradecenyl acetate (Z9-14:Ac), (E)-11-Tetradecenyl acetate(E11-14:Ac). These key genes were differentially expressed in female moths collected from different geographical regions. Furthermore, field bioassays demonstrated geographical variation in the olfactory profile of male moths in response to the different sex pheromone mixtures, which therefore indicates that a significant variation in the sex pheromone components exists in the natural population. Our results suggest that a change in the expression of these key genes, Des3, Des5 and FAR17, in the sex pheromone biosynthesis pathway could change the ratio of the sex pheromone components. We surmise that the differential expression levels of the key genes of the sex pheromone biosynthesis pathway may lead to differential ratios of the sex pheromones in the field. Our field trapping experiment suggested that the change of the ratio of the sex pheromone components may have been adapted by the olfactory system and possibly mediate olfactory plasticity in conspecific male moths.
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Affiliation(s)
- X Lin
- College of Life Sciences, China Jiliang University, Hangzhou, Zhejiang, China
| | - B Wang
- College of Life Sciences, China Jiliang University, Hangzhou, Zhejiang, China
| | - Y Du
- Institute of Pesticide and Environmental Toxicology, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, Zhejiang, China
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Jayaweera A, Barry KL. Male antenna morphology and its effect on scramble competition in false garden mantids. Naturwissenschaften 2017; 104:75. [PMID: 28836048 DOI: 10.1007/s00114-017-1494-0] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/15/2017] [Revised: 07/26/2017] [Accepted: 07/27/2017] [Indexed: 11/29/2022]
Abstract
Well-developed antennae are crucial for many insects, but especially for scramble competitors, who race to find their mates using female sex cues. In these systems, the ability of males to locate females quickly is thought to be under strong selection. A rarely tested assumption is that males with more sensory structures are able to locate females faster. In the present study, we used the false garden mantid Pseudomantis albofimbriata to investigate male antennal morphology and its effect on male efficiency in finding a mate. We used scanning electron microscopy to describe the major sensilla types and their arrangement along the length of male antennae. We also conducted field enclosure trials relating male antennal morphology to scramble competition in this system. We identified six different types of antennal sensilla (cheatic, trichoid, basiconic, grooved peg, ceolocapitular and campaniform) on male P. albofimbriata antennae. As expected, males who had more trichoid sensilla located females quicker than did males with fewer sensilla. Results of the current study suggest that antenna morphology plays a significant role in mate location and hence scramble competition in the P. albofimbriata mating system.
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Affiliation(s)
- Anuradhi Jayaweera
- Department of Biological Sciences, Faculty of Science and Engineering, Macquarie University, North Ryde, NSW, 2109, Australia.
| | - Katherine L Barry
- Department of Biological Sciences, Faculty of Science and Engineering, Macquarie University, North Ryde, NSW, 2109, Australia
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Identification of cuticular compounds collected from Callosobruchus rhodesianus (Pic) eliciting heterospecific mating behavior with male Callosobruchus maculatus (F.). CHEMOECOLOGY 2017. [DOI: 10.1007/s00049-017-0231-7] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/20/2022]
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Groot AT, Schöfl G, Inglis O, Donnerhacke S, Classen A, Schmalz A, Santangelo RG, Emerson J, Gould F, Schal C, Heckel DG. Within-population variability in a moth sex pheromone blend: genetic basis and behavioural consequences. Proc Biol Sci 2014; 281:20133054. [PMID: 24500170 PMCID: PMC3924083 DOI: 10.1098/rspb.2013.3054] [Citation(s) in RCA: 38] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/21/2013] [Accepted: 01/14/2014] [Indexed: 11/12/2022] Open
Abstract
Evolutionary diversification of sexual communication systems in moths is perplexing because signal and response are under stabilizing selection in many species, and this is expected to constrain evolutionary change. In the moth Heliothis virescens, we consistently found high phenotypic variability in the female sex pheromone blend within each of four geographically distant populations. Here, we assess the heritability, genetic basis and behavioural consequences of this variation. Artificial selection with field-collected moths dramatically increased the relative amount of the saturated compound 16:Ald and decreased its unsaturated counterpart Z11-16:Ald, the major sex pheromone component (high line). In a cross between the high- and low-selected lines, one quantitative trait locus (QTL) explained 11-21% of the phenotypic variance in the 16:Ald/Z11-16:Ald ratio. Because changes in activity of desaturase enzymes could affect this ratio, we measured their expression levels in pheromone glands and mapped desaturase genes onto our linkage map. A delta-11-desaturase had lower expression in females producing less Z11-16:Ald; however, this gene mapped to a different chromosome than the QTL. A model in which the QTL is a trans-acting repressor of delta-11 desaturase expression explains many features of the data. Selection favouring heterozygotes which produce more unsaturated components could maintain a polymorphism at this locus.
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Affiliation(s)
- Astrid T. Groot
- IBED, University of Amsterdam, Science Park 904, 1098 XH Amsterdam, The Netherlands
- Department Entomology, Max Planck Institute for Chemical Ecology, Hans Knöll Strasse 8, Jena 07745, Germany
- Department Entomology, North Carolina State University, 100 Derieux Place, Raleigh, NC 27695-7613, USA
- W. M. Keck Center for Behavioral Biology, North Carolina State University, Raleigh, NC 27695-7617, USA
| | - Gerhard Schöfl
- Leibniz Institute for Natural Product Research and Infection Biology, Beutenbergstrasse 11A, Jena 07745, Germany
| | - Ollie Inglis
- Department Entomology, North Carolina State University, 100 Derieux Place, Raleigh, NC 27695-7613, USA
| | - Susanne Donnerhacke
- Department Entomology, Max Planck Institute for Chemical Ecology, Hans Knöll Strasse 8, Jena 07745, Germany
| | - Alice Classen
- Department Entomology, Max Planck Institute for Chemical Ecology, Hans Knöll Strasse 8, Jena 07745, Germany
| | - Antje Schmalz
- Department Entomology, Max Planck Institute for Chemical Ecology, Hans Knöll Strasse 8, Jena 07745, Germany
| | - Richard G. Santangelo
- Department Entomology, North Carolina State University, 100 Derieux Place, Raleigh, NC 27695-7613, USA
| | - Jennifer Emerson
- Department Entomology, North Carolina State University, 100 Derieux Place, Raleigh, NC 27695-7613, USA
| | - Fred Gould
- Department Entomology, North Carolina State University, 100 Derieux Place, Raleigh, NC 27695-7613, USA
- W. M. Keck Center for Behavioral Biology, North Carolina State University, Raleigh, NC 27695-7617, USA
| | - Coby Schal
- Department Entomology, North Carolina State University, 100 Derieux Place, Raleigh, NC 27695-7613, USA
- W. M. Keck Center for Behavioral Biology, North Carolina State University, Raleigh, NC 27695-7617, USA
| | - David G. Heckel
- Department Entomology, Max Planck Institute for Chemical Ecology, Hans Knöll Strasse 8, Jena 07745, Germany
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