Floral volatiles: from biosynthesis to function

2014 ◽  
Vol 37 (8) ◽  
pp. 1936-1949 ◽  
Author(s):  
JOËLLE K. MUHLEMANN ◽  
ANTJE KLEMPIEN ◽  
NATALIA DUDAREVA
Keyword(s):  
Author(s):  
Florian P. Schiestl ◽  
Erika A. Wallin ◽  
John J. Beck ◽  
Magne Friberg ◽  
John N. Thompson

AbstractVolatiles are of key importance for host-plant recognition in insects. In the pollination system of Lithophragma flowers and Greya moths, moths are highly specialized on Lithophragma, in which they oviposit and thereby pollinate the flowers. Floral volatiles in Lithophragma are highly variable between species and populations, and moths prefer to oviposit into Lithophragma flowers from populations of the local host species. Here we used gas chromatography coupled with electroantennographic detection (GC-EAD) to test whether Greya moths detect specific key volatiles or respond broadly to many volatiles of Lithophragma flowers. We also addressed whether olfactory detection in Greya moths varies across populations, consistent with a co-evolutionary scenario. We analyzed flower volatile samples from three different species and five populations of Lithophragma occurring across a 1400 km range in the Western USA, and their sympatric female Greya politella moths. We showed that Greya politella detect a broad range of Lithophragma volatiles, with a total of 23 compounds being EAD active. We chemically identified 15 of these, including the chiral 6, 10, 14-trimethylpentadecan-2-one (hexahydrofarnesyl acetone), which was not previously detected in Lithophragma. All investigated Lithophragma species produced the (6R, 10R)-enantiomer of this compound. We showed that Greya moths detected not only volatiles of their local Lithophragma plants, but also those from allopatric populations/species that they not encounter in local populations. In conclusion, the generalized detection of volatiles and a lack of co-divergence between volatiles and olfactory detection may be of selective advantage for moths in tracking hosts with rapidly evolving, chemically diverse floral volatiles.


eLife ◽  
2016 ◽  
Vol 5 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alexander Haverkamp ◽  
Felipe Yon ◽  
Ian W Keesey ◽  
Christine Mißbach ◽  
Christopher Koenig ◽  
...  

Pollination by insects is essential to many ecosystems. Previously, we have shown that floral scent is important to mediate pollen transfer between plants (<xref ref-type="bibr" rid="bib16">Kessler et al., 2015</xref>). Yet, the mechanisms by which pollinators evaluate volatiles of single flowers remained unclear. Here, Nicotiana attenuata plants, in which floral volatiles have been genetically silenced and its hawkmoth pollinator, Manduca sexta, were used in semi-natural tent and wind-tunnel assays to explore the function of floral scent. We found that floral scent functions to increase the fitness of individual flowers not only by increasing detectability but also by enhancing the pollinator's foraging efforts. Combining proboscis choice tests with neurophysiological, anatomical and molecular analyses we show that this effect is governed by newly discovered olfactory neurons on the tip of the moth's proboscis. With the tip of their tongue, pollinators assess the advertisement of individual flowers, an ability essential for maintaining this important ecosystem service.


Ecology ◽  
2005 ◽  
Vol 86 (8) ◽  
pp. 2099-2105 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tia-Lynn Ashman ◽  
Megan Bradburn ◽  
Denise H. Cole ◽  
Bernard H. Blaney ◽  
Robert A. Raguso
Keyword(s):  

2008 ◽  
Vol 36 (11) ◽  
pp. 842-852 ◽  
Author(s):  
Andreas Jürgens ◽  
Stefan Dötterl ◽  
Sigrid Liede-Schumann ◽  
Ulrich Meve

Oikos ◽  
1998 ◽  
Vol 81 (2) ◽  
pp. 238 ◽  
Author(s):  
Robert A. Raguso ◽  
Olle Pellmyr

2020 ◽  
Vol 77 (1) ◽  
pp. 158
Author(s):  
Shephalika Amrapali ◽  
TP Shabeer Ahammad ◽  
Bappa Ghosh ◽  
Namita ◽  
M. K. Singh ◽  
...  

2008 ◽  
Vol 74 (2) ◽  
pp. 369
Author(s):  
A. Jürgens ◽  
S. Dötter ◽  
U. Meve ◽  
S. Liede-Schumann

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