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Fleischer J, Krieger J. Insect Pheromone Receptors - Key Elements in Sensing Intraspecific Chemical Signals. Front Cell Neurosci 2018; 12:425. [PMID: 30515079 PMCID: PMC6255830 DOI: 10.3389/fncel.2018.00425] [Citation(s) in RCA: 50] [Impact Index Per Article: 8.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/30/2018] [Accepted: 10/30/2018] [Indexed: 12/20/2022] Open
Abstract
Pheromones are chemicals that serve intraspecific communication. In animals, the ability to detect and discriminate pheromones in a complex chemical environment substantially contributes to the survival of the species. Insects widely use pheromones to attract mating partners, to alarm conspecifics or to mark paths to rich food sources. The various functional roles of pheromones for insects are reflected by the chemical diversity of pheromonal compounds. The precise detection of the relevant intraspecific signals is accomplished by specialized chemosensory neurons housed in hair-like sensilla located on the surface of body appendages. Current data indicate that the extraordinary sensitivity and selectivity of the pheromone-responsive neurons (PRNs) is largely based on specific pheromone receptors (PRs) residing in their ciliary membrane. Besides these key elements, proper ligand-induced responses of PR-expressing neurons appear to generally require a putative co-receptor, the so-called "sensory neuron membrane protein 1" (SNMP1). Regarding the PR-mediated chemo-electrical signal transduction processes in insect PRNs, ionotropic as well as metabotropic mechanisms may be involved. In this review, we summarize and discuss current knowledge on the peripheral detection of pheromones in the olfactory system of insects with a focus on PRs and their specific role in the recognition and transduction of volatile intraspecific chemical signals.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jörg Fleischer
- Department of Animal Physiology, Institute of Biology/Zoology, Martin Luther University Halle-Wittenberg, Halle, Germany
| | - Jürgen Krieger
- Department of Animal Physiology, Institute of Biology/Zoology, Martin Luther University Halle-Wittenberg, Halle, Germany
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Brooks L, Brunelli M, Pattison P, Jones GR, Fitch A. Crystal structures of eight mono-methyl alkanes (C26-C32) via single-crystal and powder diffraction and DFT-D optimization. IUCRJ 2015; 2:490-7. [PMID: 26306191 PMCID: PMC4547817 DOI: 10.1107/s2052252515010271] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/28/2015] [Accepted: 05/28/2015] [Indexed: 06/04/2023]
Abstract
The crystal structures of eight mono-methyl alkanes have been determined from single-crystal or high-resolution powder X-ray diffraction using synchrotron radiation. Mono-methyl alkanes can be found on the cuticles of insects and are believed to act as recognition pheromones in some social species, e.g. ants, wasps etc. The molecules were synthesized as pure S enantiomers and are (S)-9-methylpentacosane, C26H54; (S)-9-methylheptacosane and (S)-11-methylheptacosane, C28H58; (S)-7-methylnonacosane, (S)-9-methylnonacosane, (S)-11-methylnonacosane and (S)-13-methylnonacosane, C30H62; and (S)-9-methylhentriacontane, C32H66. All crystallize in space group P21. Depending on the position of the methyl group on the carbon chain, two packing schemes are observed, in which the molecules pack together hexagonally as linear rods with terminal and side methyl groups clustering to form distinct motifs. Carbon-chain torsion angles deviate by less than 10° from the fully extended conformation, but with one packing form showing greater curvature than the other near the position of the methyl side group. The crystal structures are optimized by dispersion-corrected DFT calculations, because of the difficulties in refining accurate structural parameters from powder diffraction data from relatively poorly crystalline materials.
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Affiliation(s)
- Lee Brooks
- ESRF, CS 40220, 38043 Grenoble CEDEX 9, France
- School of Physical and Geographical Sciences, Lennard–Jones Laboratories, Keele University, Staffordshire ST5 5BG, UK
| | - Michela Brunelli
- ILL, CS 20156, 38042 Grenoble CEDEX 9, France
- SNBL/ESRF, CS 40220, 38043 Grenoble CEDEX 9, France
| | - Philip Pattison
- SNBL/ESRF, CS 40220, 38043 Grenoble CEDEX 9, France
- Crystallography Competence Centre, EPFL, 1015 Lausanne, Switzerland
| | - Graeme R. Jones
- School of Physical and Geographical Sciences, Lennard–Jones Laboratories, Keele University, Staffordshire ST5 5BG, UK
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Baracchi D, Mazza G, Cini A, Petrocelli I, Bin Hashim R, Turillazzi S. Social biology ofParischnogaster striatula(Hymenoptera: Stenogastrinae). TROPICAL ZOOLOGY 2013. [DOI: 10.1080/03946975.2013.808005] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/26/2022]
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Facial markings in the hover wasps: quality signals and familiar recognition cues in two species of Stenogastrinae. Anim Behav 2013. [DOI: 10.1016/j.anbehav.2012.10.027] [Citation(s) in RCA: 27] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/23/2022]
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Cervo R, Dani F, Zanetti P, Massolo A, Turillazzi S. Chemical nestmate recognition in a stenogastrine wasp, Liostenogaster flavolineata (Hymenoptera Vespidae). ETHOL ECOL EVOL 2010. [DOI: 10.1080/08927014.2002.9522736] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/19/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- R. Cervo
- a Dipartimento di Biologia Animale e Genetica , Università di Firenze , Via Romana 17, 50125, Firenze, Italy
| | - F.R. Dani
- a Dipartimento di Biologia Animale e Genetica , Università di Firenze , Via Romana 17, 50125, Firenze, Italy
| | - P. Zanetti
- a Dipartimento di Biologia Animale e Genetica , Università di Firenze , Via Romana 17, 50125, Firenze, Italy
| | - A. Massolo
- b Dipartimento di Biologia Evolutiva , Università di Siena , Via P.A. Mattioli 4, 53100, Siena, Italy
| | - S. Turillazzi
- a Dipartimento di Biologia Animale e Genetica , Università di Firenze , Via Romana 17, 50125, Firenze, Italy
- c Istituto per lo Studio degli Ecosistemi del C.N.R. , Via Romana 17, 50125, Firenze, Italy
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Landi M, Coster-Longman C, Turillazzi S. Are the selfish herd and the dilution effects important in promoting nest clustering in the hover wasp Parischnogaster alternata (Stenogastrinae Vespidae Hymenoptera)? ETHOL ECOL EVOL 2010. [DOI: 10.1080/08927014.2002.9522732] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/19/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- M. Landi
- a Dipartimento di Biologia Animale e Genetica , Università di Firenze , Via Romana 17, 50126, Firenze, Italy
| | - C. Coster-Longman
- a Dipartimento di Biologia Animale e Genetica , Università di Firenze , Via Romana 17, 50126, Firenze, Italy
| | - S. Turillazzi
- a Dipartimento di Biologia Animale e Genetica , Università di Firenze , Via Romana 17, 50126, Firenze, Italy
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Millor J, Amé JM, Halloy J, Deneubourg JL. Individual discrimination capability and collective decision-making. J Theor Biol 2006; 239:313-23. [PMID: 16213529 DOI: 10.1016/j.jtbi.2005.07.020] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/08/2005] [Revised: 07/28/2005] [Accepted: 07/29/2005] [Indexed: 10/25/2022]
Abstract
Amplification is the main component of many collective phenomena in social and gregarious insects. In a society, individuals face a mixed palette of odours coming from different groups (lines, strains) and individuals present discrimination capabilities. However, often at the collective level, different groups may cooperate and act together. To understand this apparent contradiction, we use a model of food recruitment where each group of foragers have its own blend of pheromone trail that is partly recognized by the others groups. The model shows that a low level of recognition between signals is sufficient to produce a collaborative pattern between groups and that beyond a critical value of recognition, only the aggregation of all the groups around the same food source is observed. The comparison between this model and one describing the site selection by gregarious insects (e.g. cockroach) suggests that such collective response is a generic property of social phenomena governed by amplification processes.
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Affiliation(s)
- J Millor
- Service d'Ecologie sociale, CP 231, Université libre de Bruxelles, Brussels, Belgium
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Lorenzi MC, Sledge MF, Laiolo P, Sturlini E, Turillazzi S. Cuticular hydrocarbon dynamics in young adult Polistes dominulus (Hymenoptera: Vespidae) and the role of linear hydrocarbons in nestmate recognition systems. JOURNAL OF INSECT PHYSIOLOGY 2004; 50:935-941. [PMID: 15518661 DOI: 10.1016/j.jinsphys.2004.07.005] [Citation(s) in RCA: 29] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/22/2004] [Revised: 07/10/2004] [Accepted: 07/13/2004] [Indexed: 05/24/2023]
Abstract
In social insects, cuticular hydrocarbons (CHCs) play an important role in nestmate discrimination processes, but young individuals are usually not discriminated. We studied CHC changes in young workers of the social wasp Polistes dominulus. A quantitative estimation demonstrated that total quantities of CHCs increased after emergence, with branched alkanes increasing drastically when compared with other classes of hydrocarbons. The relative quantity of longer-chain compounds increased with respect to shorter ones; unsaturated compounds decreased. These changes might reduce the capacity of the cuticle to acquire compounds of environmental origin. We then tested whether individuals acquire hydrocarbons from the environment, and whether this capability equally characterises newly emerged and mature wasps. We exposed wasps of two age classes (adults younger or older than 24 h) to four linear hydrocarbons in turn, and observed how nestmates reacted to their re-introduction into the natal colony. Exposed young wasps elicited significantly more aggressive responses than control sisters; but treated wasps older than 24 h were generally accepted by nestmates. Chemical assays showed that exposed young wasps readily absorbed hydrocarbons; older ones did not incorporate hydrocarbons, suggesting that the chemical profiles of mature wasps are less prone to chemical shifts than those of newly emerged wasps.
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Affiliation(s)
- M Cristina Lorenzi
- Dipartimento di Biologia Animale e dell'Uomo, Università di Torino, Via Accademia Albertina 17, 10123 Torino, Italy.
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Zetto Brandmayr T, Bonacci T, Massolo A, Brandmayr P. Peace in ground beetle larvae: non-aggressive outcome in Chlaeniusspp. larvae interactions. ETHOL ECOL EVOL 2004. [DOI: 10.1080/08927014.2004.9522626] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/19/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- T. Zetto Brandmayr
- a Dipartimento di Ecologia , Università della Calabria , Via P. Bucci, 87036, Arcavacata di Rende, Cosenza, Italy
| | - T. Bonacci
- a Dipartimento di Ecologia , Università della Calabria , Via P. Bucci, 87036, Arcavacata di Rende, Cosenza, Italy
| | - A. Massolo
- b Dipartimento di Scienze Ambientali “G. Sarfatti”, Sezione di Ecologia Comportamentale, Etologia e Gestione della Fauna , Università di Siena , Via P.A. Mattioli 4, I-53100, Siena, Italy
| | - P. Brandmayr
- a Dipartimento di Ecologia , Università della Calabria , Via P. Bucci, 87036, Arcavacata di Rende, Cosenza, Italy
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Gobin B, Ito F, Billen J. The subepithelial gland in ants: a novel exocrine gland closely associated with the cuticle surface. ACTA ZOOL-STOCKHOLM 2003. [DOI: 10.1046/j.1463-6395.2003.00149.x] [Citation(s) in RCA: 17] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/20/2022]
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