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Ottocento C, Rojas B, Burdfield-Steel E, Furlanetto M, Nokelainen O, Winters S, Mappes J. Diet influences resource allocation in chemical defence but not melanin synthesis in an aposematic moth. J Exp Biol 2024; 227:jeb245946. [PMID: 38179687 DOI: 10.1242/jeb.245946] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/17/2023] [Accepted: 12/19/2023] [Indexed: 01/06/2024]
Abstract
For animals that synthesise their chemical compounds de novo, resources, particularly proteins, can influence investment in chemical defences and nitrogen-based wing colouration such as melanin. Competing for the same resources often leads to trade-offs in resource allocation. We manipulated protein availability in the larval diet of the wood tiger moth, Arctia plantaginis, to test how early life resource availability influences relevant life history traits, melanin production and chemical defences. We expected higher dietary protein to result in more effective chemical defences in adult moths and a higher amount of melanin in the wings. According to the resource allocation hypothesis, we also expected individuals with less melanin to have more resources to allocate to chemical defences. We found that protein-deprived moths had a slower larval development, and their chemical defences were less unpalatable for bird predators, but the expression of melanin in their wings did not differ from that of moths raised on a high-protein diet. The amount of melanin in the wings, however, unexpectedly correlated positively with chemical defences. Our findings demonstrate that the resources available in early life have an important role in the efficacy of chemical defences, but melanin-based warning colours are less sensitive to resource variability than other fitness-related traits.
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Affiliation(s)
- Cristina Ottocento
- Organismal and Evolutionary Biology Research Programme, Faculty of Biological and Environmental Sciences, Viikinkaari 1, PO Box 65, 00014 University of Helsinki, Finland
- University of Jyväskylä, Department of Biology and Environmental Science, PO Box 35, 40014 Jyväskylä, Finland
| | - Bibiana Rojas
- University of Jyväskylä, Department of Biology and Environmental Science, PO Box 35, 40014 Jyväskylä, Finland
- Department of Interdisciplinary Life Sciences, Konrad Lorenz Institute of Ethology, University of Veterinary Medicine Vienna, Savoyenstraße 1, 1160 Vienna, Austria
| | - Emily Burdfield-Steel
- University of Amsterdam, Institute for Biodiversity and Ecosystem Dynamics, Science Park 904, 1098 XH Amsterdam, The Netherlands
| | - Miriam Furlanetto
- University of Jyväskylä, Department of Biology and Environmental Science, PO Box 35, 40014 Jyväskylä, Finland
| | - Ossi Nokelainen
- University of Jyväskylä, Department of Biology and Environmental Science, PO Box 35, 40014 Jyväskylä, Finland
- Open Science Centre, PO Box 35, 40014University of Jyväskylä, Finland
| | - Sandra Winters
- Organismal and Evolutionary Biology Research Programme, Faculty of Biological and Environmental Sciences, Viikinkaari 1, PO Box 65, 00014 University of Helsinki, Finland
| | - Johanna Mappes
- Organismal and Evolutionary Biology Research Programme, Faculty of Biological and Environmental Sciences, Viikinkaari 1, PO Box 65, 00014 University of Helsinki, Finland
- University of Jyväskylä, Department of Biology and Environmental Science, PO Box 35, 40014 Jyväskylä, Finland
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Burdfield-Steel E, Burdfield C. How to fail in advertising: The potential of marketing theory to predict the community-level selection of defended prey. J Evol Biol 2023. [PMID: 36820741 DOI: 10.1111/jeb.14160] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/14/2022] [Revised: 12/14/2022] [Accepted: 01/16/2023] [Indexed: 02/24/2023]
Abstract
Economics and ecology both present us with a key challenge: scaling up from individual behaviour to community-level effects. As a result, biologists have frequently utilized theories and frameworks from economics in their attempt to better understand animal behaviour. In the study of predator-prey interactions, we face a particularly difficult task-understanding how predator choices and strategies will impact the ecology and evolution not just of individual prey species, but whole communities. However, a similar challenge has been encountered, and largely solved, in Marketing, which has created frameworks that successfully predict human consumer behaviour at the community level. We argue that by applying these frameworks to non-human consumers, we can leverage this predictive power to understand the behaviour of these key ecological actors in shaping the communities they act upon. We here use predator-prey interactions, as a case study, to demonstrate and discuss the potential of marketing and human-consumer theory in helping us bridge the gap from laboratory experiments to complex community dynamics.
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Affiliation(s)
- Emily Burdfield-Steel
- Institute for Biodiversity and Ecosystem Dynamics, University of Amsterdam, Amsterdam, The Netherlands
| | - Claire Burdfield
- Sheffield University Management School, University of Sheffield, Sheffield, UK
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3
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Blankers T, Fruitet E, Burdfield-Steel E, Groot AT. Experimental evolution of a pheromone signal. Ecol Evol 2022; 12:e8941. [PMID: 35646318 PMCID: PMC9130292 DOI: 10.1002/ece3.8941] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/25/2022] [Accepted: 05/02/2022] [Indexed: 11/21/2022] Open
Abstract
Sexual signals are important in speciation, but understanding their evolution is complex as these signals are often composed of multiple, genetically interdependent components. To understand how signals evolve, we thus need to consider selection responses in multiple components and account for the genetic correlations among components. One intriguing possibility is that selection changes the genetic covariance structure of a multicomponent signal in a way that facilitates a response to selection. However, this hypothesis remains largely untested empirically. In this study, we investigate the evolutionary response of the multicomponent female sex pheromone blend of the moth Heliothis subflexa to 10 generations of artificial selection. We observed a selection response of about three‐quarters of a phenotypic standard deviation in the components under selection. Interestingly, other pheromone components that are biochemically and genetically linked to the components under selection did not change. We also found that after the onset of selection, the genetic covariance structure diverged, resulting in the disassociation of components under selection and components not under selection across the first two genetic principle components. Our findings provide rare empirical support for an intriguing mechanism by which a sexual signal can respond to selection without possible constraints from indirect selection responses.
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Affiliation(s)
- Thomas Blankers
- Evolutionary and Population Biology Institute for Biodiversity and Ecosystem Dynamics University of Amsterdam Amsterdam The Netherlands
| | - Elise Fruitet
- Evolutionary and Population Biology Institute for Biodiversity and Ecosystem Dynamics University of Amsterdam Amsterdam The Netherlands
| | - Emily Burdfield-Steel
- Evolutionary and Population Biology Institute for Biodiversity and Ecosystem Dynamics University of Amsterdam Amsterdam The Netherlands
| | - Astrid T Groot
- Evolutionary and Population Biology Institute for Biodiversity and Ecosystem Dynamics University of Amsterdam Amsterdam The Netherlands
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De Pasqual C, Groot AT, Mappes J, Burdfield-Steel E. Evolutionary importance of intraspecific variation in sex pheromones: (Trends in Ecology and Evolution, 36, 848-859, 2021). Trends Ecol Evol 2021; 37:105. [PMID: 34686373 DOI: 10.1016/j.tree.2021.09.010] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/27/2022]
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Abstract
Abstract
Despite the fact their coloration functions as an aposematic signal, and is thus expected to be under stabilizing selection, hibiscus harlequin bugs (Tectocoris diophthalmus) show an impressive level of variation in their iridescent coloration both within and between populations. To date the heritability of coloration in this species remains unknown. Here we focus on a single population in New South Wales (the southern part of this species’ Australian range), with the greatest colour variation. We reared full-sib families of known pedigree in the laboratory and analysed the extent of iridescent coloration at adulthood. We then looked for evidence of heritability, condition dependence and antagonistic sexual selection acting on colour in this species. We found significant heritability in the extent of iridescent coloration for both sexes, as well as in development time and body size, but no evidence that condition dependence played a role in the determination of adult coloration. There was, however, a sex by genotype interaction for iridescent cover, in the form of a negative intersexual genetic correlation: in families where sons had high iridescent cover the daughters had low, and vice versa. Our results suggest that different selective pressures may act on coloration in males and females of this species.
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Affiliation(s)
- Emily Burdfield-Steel
- Institute of Biodiversity and Ecosystem Dynamics, University of Amsterdam, Amsterdam, The Netherlands
- Department of Biological Sciences, Faculty of Science and Engineering, Macquarie University, North Ryde, NSW, Australia
| | - Darrell J Kemp
- Department of Biological Sciences, Faculty of Science and Engineering, Macquarie University, North Ryde, NSW, Australia
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Gordon SP, Burdfield-Steel E, Kirvesoja J, Mappes J. Safety in Numbers: How Color Morph Frequency Affects Predation Risk in an Aposematic Moth. Am Nat 2021; 198:128-141. [PMID: 34143722 DOI: 10.1086/714528] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/03/2022]
Abstract
AbstractPolymorphic warning signals in aposematic systems are enigmatic because predator learning should favor the most common form, creating positive frequency-dependent survival. However, many populations exhibit variation in warning signals. There are various selective mechanisms that can counter positive frequency-dependent selection and lead to temporal or spatial warning signal diversification. Examining these mechanisms and their effects requires first confirming whether the most common morphs are favored at both local and regional scales. Empirical examples of this are uncommon and often include potentially confounding factors, such as a lack of knowledge of predator identity and behavior. We tested how bird behavior influences the survival of three coexisting morphs of the aposematic wood tiger moth Arctia plantaginis offered to a sympatric predator (great tit Parus major) at different frequencies. We found that although positive frequency-dependent selection is present, its strength is affected by predator characteristics and varying prey profitability. These results highlight the need to understand predator foraging in natural communities with variable prey defenses in order to better examine how behavioral interactions shape evolutionary outcomes.
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Groot AT, Vedenina V, Burdfield-Steel E. Editorial: Multimodal Mating Signals: Evolution, Genetics and Physiological Background. Front Ecol Evol 2021. [DOI: 10.3389/fevo.2020.630957] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/13/2022] Open
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Lindstedt C, Suisto K, Burdfield-Steel E, Winters AE, Mappes J. Defense against predators incurs high reproductive costs for the aposematic moth Arctia plantaginis. Behav Ecol 2020; 31:844-850. [PMID: 32595271 PMCID: PMC7303824 DOI: 10.1093/beheco/araa033] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/30/2019] [Revised: 03/11/2020] [Accepted: 04/06/2020] [Indexed: 12/30/2022] Open
Abstract
To understand how variation in warning displays evolves and is maintained, we need to understand not only how perceivers of these traits select color and toxicity but also the sources of the genetic and phenotypic variation exposed to selection by them. We studied these aspects in the wood tiger moth Arctia plantaginis, which has two locally co-occurring male color morphs in Europe: yellow and white. When threatened, both morphs produce defensive secretions from their abdomen and from thoracic glands. Abdominal fluid has shown to be more important against invertebrate predators than avian predators, and the defensive secretion of the yellow morph is more effective against ants. Here, we focused on the morph-linked reproductive costs of secretion of the abdominal fluid and quantified the proportion of phenotypic and genetic variation in it. We hypothesized that, if yellow males pay higher reproductive costs for their more effective aposematic display, the subsequent higher mating success of white males could offer one explanation for the maintenance of the polymorphism. We first found that the heritable variation in the quantity of abdominal secretion was very low (h 2 = 0.006) and the quantity of defensive secretion was not dependent on the male morph. Second, deploying the abdominal defensive secretion decreased the reproductive output of both color morphs equally. This suggests that potential costs of pigment production and chemical defense against invertebrates are not linked in A. plantaginis. Furthermore, our results indicate that environmentally induced variation in chemical defense can alter an individual's fitness significantly.
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Affiliation(s)
- Carita Lindstedt
- Department of Biological and Environmental Sciences, University of Jyväskylä, Jyväskylä, Finland
| | - Kaisa Suisto
- Department of Biological and Environmental Sciences, University of Jyväskylä, Jyväskylä, Finland
| | - Emily Burdfield-Steel
- Department of Biological and Environmental Sciences, University of Jyväskylä, Jyväskylä, Finland
- Institute for Biodiversity and Ecosystem Dynamics (IBED), University of Amsterdam, Amsterdam, The Netherlands
| | - Anne E Winters
- Department of Biological and Environmental Sciences, University of Jyväskylä, Jyväskylä, Finland
| | - Johanna Mappes
- Department of Biological and Environmental Sciences, University of Jyväskylä, Jyväskylä, Finland
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Gordon S, Burdfield-Steel E. Book Review. Basic Appl Ecol 2019. [DOI: 10.1016/j.baae.2019.03.003] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/29/2022]
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Burdfield-Steel E, Brain M, Rojas B, Mappes J. The price of safety: food deprivation in early life influences the efficacy of chemical defence in an aposematic moth. OIKOS 2018. [DOI: 10.1111/oik.05420] [Citation(s) in RCA: 17] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/20/2023]
Affiliation(s)
- Emily Burdfield-Steel
- Centre of Excellence in Biological Interactions, Dept of Biological and Environmental Science; PO Box 35 FI-40014 Univ. of Jyväskylä Finland
| | - Morgan Brain
- Centre of Excellence in Biological Interactions, Dept of Biological and Environmental Science; PO Box 35 FI-40014 Univ. of Jyväskylä Finland
| | - Bibiana Rojas
- Centre of Excellence in Biological Interactions, Dept of Biological and Environmental Science; PO Box 35 FI-40014 Univ. of Jyväskylä Finland
| | - Johanna Mappes
- Centre of Excellence in Biological Interactions, Dept of Biological and Environmental Science; PO Box 35 FI-40014 Univ. of Jyväskylä Finland
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Rojas B, Burdfield-Steel E, De Pasqual C, Gordon S, Hernández L, Mappes J, Nokelainen O, Rönkä K, Lindstedt C. Multimodal Aposematic Signals and Their Emerging Role in Mate Attraction. Front Ecol Evol 2018. [DOI: 10.3389/fevo.2018.00093] [Citation(s) in RCA: 19] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/13/2022] Open
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12
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Potvin DA, Burdfield-Steel E, Potvin JM, Heap SM. Diversity begets diversity: A global perspective on gender equality in scientific society leadership. PLoS One 2018; 13:e0197280. [PMID: 29847591 PMCID: PMC5976142 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0197280] [Citation(s) in RCA: 39] [Impact Index Per Article: 6.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/04/2017] [Accepted: 04/29/2018] [Indexed: 11/20/2022] Open
Abstract
Research shows that gender inequality is still a major issue in academic science, yet academic societies may serve as underappreciated and effective avenues for promoting female leadership. That is, society membership is often self-selective, and board positions are elected (with a high turnover compared to institutions)—these characteristics, among others, may thus create an environment conducive to gender equality. We therefore investigate this potential using an information-theoretic approach to quantify gender equality (male:female ratios) in zoology society boards around the world. We compare alternative models to analyze how society characteristics might predict or correlate with the proportion of female leaders, and find that a cultural model, including society age, size of board and whether or not a society had an outward commitment or statement of equality, was the most informative predictor for the gender ratio of society boards and leadership positions. This model was more informative than alternatives that considered, for instance, geographic location, discipline of study or taxonomic focus. While women were more highly represented in society leadership than in institutional academic leadership, this representation was still far short of equal (~30%): we thus also provide a checklist and recommendations for societies to contribute to global gender equality in science.
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Affiliation(s)
- Dominique A. Potvin
- School of Science and Engineering, University of the Sunshine Coast, Hervey Bay, Queensland, Australia
- * E-mail:
| | - Emily Burdfield-Steel
- Centre of Excellence in Biological Interactions, Department of Biological and Environmental Science, University of Jyväskylä, Jyväskylä, Finland
| | - Jacqueline M. Potvin
- Department of Women's Studies and Feminist Research, The University of Western Ontario, London, Ontario, Canada
| | - Stephen M. Heap
- Centre of Excellence in Biological Interactions, Department of Biological and Environmental Science, University of Jyväskylä, Jyväskylä, Finland
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Abstract
Many animals protect themselves from predation with chemicals, both self-made or sequestered from their diet. The potential drivers of the diversity of these chemicals have been long studied, but our knowledge of these chemicals and their acquisition mode is heavily based on specialist herbivores that sequester their defenses. The wood tiger moth (Arctia plantaginis, Linnaeus, 1758) is a well-studied aposematic species, but the nature of its chemical defenses has not been fully described . Here, we report the presence of two methoxypyrazines, 2-sec-butyl-3-methoxypyrazine and 2-isobutyl-3-methoxypyrazine, in the moths' defensive secretions. By raising larvae on an artificial diet, we confirm, for the first time, that their defensive compounds are produced de novo rather than sequestered from their diet. Pyrazines are known for their defensive function in invertebrates due to their distinctive odor, inducing aversion and facilitating predator learning. While their synthesis has been suspected, it has never previously been experimentally confirmed. Our results highlight the importance of considering de novo synthesis, in addition to sequestration, when studying the defensive capabilities of insects and other invertebrates.
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Affiliation(s)
- Emily Burdfield-Steel
- Centre of Excellence in Biological Interactions, Department of Biology and Environmental Sciences, University of Jyväskylä, FI, Finland
| | - Hannu Pakkanen
- Department of Chemistry, University of Jyväskylä, Survontie, Jyväskylä, Finland
| | - Bibiana Rojas
- Centre of Excellence in Biological Interactions, Department of Biology and Environmental Sciences, University of Jyväskylä, FI, Finland
| | - Juan A Galarza
- Centre of Excellence in Biological Interactions, Department of Biology and Environmental Sciences, University of Jyväskylä, FI, Finland
| | - Johanna Mappes
- Centre of Excellence in Biological Interactions, Department of Biology and Environmental Sciences, University of Jyväskylä, FI, Finland
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Rojas B, Burdfield-Steel E, Pakkanen H, Suisto K, Maczka M, Schulz S, Mappes J. How to fight multiple enemies: target-specific chemical defences in an aposematic moth. Proc Biol Sci 2017; 284:20171424. [PMID: 28954910 PMCID: PMC5627206 DOI: 10.1098/rspb.2017.1424] [Citation(s) in RCA: 41] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/26/2017] [Accepted: 08/25/2017] [Indexed: 11/12/2022] Open
Abstract
Animals have evolved different defensive strategies to survive predation, among which chemical defences are particularly widespread and diverse. Here we investigate the function of chemical defence diversity, hypothesizing that such diversity has evolved as a response to multiple enemies. The aposematic wood tiger moth (Arctia plantaginis) displays conspicuous hindwing coloration and secretes distinct defensive fluids from its thoracic glands and abdomen. We presented the two defensive fluids from laboratory-reared moths to two biologically relevant predators, birds and ants, and measured their reaction in controlled bioassays (no information on colour was provided). We found that defensive fluids are target-specific: thoracic fluids, and particularly 2-sec-butyl-3-methoxypyrazine, which they contain, deterred birds, but caused no aversive response in ants. By contrast, abdominal fluids were particularly deterrent to ants, while birds did not find them repellent. Our study, to our knowledge, is the first to show evidence of a single species producing separate chemical defences targeted to different predator types, highlighting the importance of taking into account complex predator communities in studies on the evolution of prey defence diversity.
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Affiliation(s)
- Bibiana Rojas
- Centre of Excellence in Biological Interactions, Department of Biology and Environmental Sciences, University of Jyväskylä, PO Box 35, Jyväskylä 40001, Finland
| | - Emily Burdfield-Steel
- Centre of Excellence in Biological Interactions, Department of Biology and Environmental Sciences, University of Jyväskylä, PO Box 35, Jyväskylä 40001, Finland
| | - Hannu Pakkanen
- Department of Chemistry, University of Jyväskylä, Survontie 9, Jyväskylä 40500, Finland
| | - Kaisa Suisto
- Centre of Excellence in Biological Interactions, Department of Biology and Environmental Sciences, University of Jyväskylä, PO Box 35, Jyväskylä 40001, Finland
| | - Michael Maczka
- Technische Universität Braunschweig, Institute of Organic Chemistry, Hagenring 30, 38106 Braunschweig, Germany
| | - Stefan Schulz
- Technische Universität Braunschweig, Institute of Organic Chemistry, Hagenring 30, 38106 Braunschweig, Germany
| | - Johanna Mappes
- Centre of Excellence in Biological Interactions, Department of Biology and Environmental Sciences, University of Jyväskylä, PO Box 35, Jyväskylä 40001, Finland
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