scholarly journals Molecular principles of insect chemoreception

Acta Naturae ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 12 (3) ◽  
pp. 81-91
Author(s):  
E. L. Sokolinskaya ◽  
D. V. Kolesov ◽  
K. A. Lukyanov ◽  
A. M. Bogdanov
Keyword(s):  
Chemical Communication ◽  
Specific Chemical ◽  
Current Review ◽  
Insect Chemoreception ◽  
Chemical Stimuli ◽  
Protein Classes ◽  
Living Organisms ◽  
Chemoreception System

Chemoreception, an ability to perceive specific chemical stimuli, is one of the most evolutionarily ancient forms of interaction between living organisms and their environment. Chemoreception systems are found in organisms belonging to all biological kingdoms. In higher multicellular animals, chemoreception (along with photo- and mechanoreception) underlies the functioning of five traditional senses. Insects have developed a peculiar and one of the most sophisticated chemoreception systems, which exploits at least three receptor superfamilies providing perception of smell and taste, as well as chemical communication in these animals. The enormous diversity of physiologically relevant compounds in the environment has given rise to a wide-ranging repertoire of chemoreceptors of various specificities. Thus, in insects, they are represented by several structurally and functionally distinct protein classes and are encoded by hundreds of genes. In the current review, we briefly characterize the insect chemoreception system by describing the main groups of receptors that constitute it and putting emphasis on the peculiar architecture and mechanisms of functioning possessed by these molecules.

scholarly journals Chemical Variation among Castes, Female Life Stages and Populations of the Facultative Eusocial Sweat Bee Halictus rubicundus (Hymenoptera: Halictidae)

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Iris Steitz ◽  
Robert J Paxton ◽  
Stefan Schulz ◽  
Manfred Ayasse
Keyword(s):  
Chemical Communication ◽  
North American ◽  
Specific Chemical ◽  
Eusocial Insects ◽  
Queen Signal ◽  
Ovarian Activation ◽  
Chemical Profiles ◽  
Reproductive Division Of Labor ◽  
Reproductive Division ◽  
Eusocial Species

AbstractIn eusocial insects, chemical communication is crucial for mediating many aspects of social activities, especially the regulation of reproduction. Though queen signals are known to decrease ovarian activation of workers in highly eusocial species, little is known about their evolution. In contrast, some primitively eusocial species are thought to control worker reproduction through physical aggression by the queen rather than via pheromones, suggesting the evolutionary establishment of chemical signals with more derived sociality. However, studies supporting this hypothesis are largely missing. Socially polymorphic halictid bees, such as Halictus rubicundus, with social and solitary populations in both Europe and North America, offer excellent opportunities to illuminate the evolution of caste-specific signals. Here we compared the chemical profiles of social and solitary populations from both continents and tested whether (i) population or social level affect chemical dissimilarity and whether (ii) caste-specific patterns reflect a conserved queen signal. Our results demonstrate unique odor profiles of European and North American populations, mainly due to different isomers of n-alkenes and macrocyclic lactones; chemical differences may be indicative of phylogeographic drift in odor profiles. We also found common compounds overproduced in queens compared to workers in both populations, indicating a potential conserved queen signal. However, North American populations have a lower caste-specific chemical dissimilarity than European populations which raises the question if both use different mechanisms of regulating reproductive division of labor. Therefore, our study gives new insights into the evolution of eusocial behavior and the role of chemical communication in the inhibition of reproduction.

scholarly journals The Scent of Ant Brood: Caste Differences in Surface Hydrocarbons of Formica exsecta Pupae

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Unni Pulliainen ◽  
Nick Bos ◽  
Patrizia d’Ettorre ◽  
Liselotte Sundström
Keyword(s):  
Surface Chemistry ◽  
Chemical Communication ◽  
Cuticular Hydrocarbons ◽  
Social Insects ◽  
Developmental Stages ◽  
Pupal Stage ◽  
Male And Female ◽  
Chemical Stimuli ◽  
Caste Differences ◽  
Long Chain

AbstractChemical communication is common across all organisms. Insects in particular use predominantly chemical stimuli in assessing their environment and recognizing their social counterparts. One of the chemical stimuli used for recognition in social insects, such as ants, is the suite of long-chain, cuticular hydrocarbons. In addition to providing waterproofing, these surface hydrocarbons serve as a signature mixture, which ants can perceive, and use to distinguish between strangers and colony mates, and to determine caste, sex, and reproductive status of another individual. They can be both environmentally and endogenously acquired. The surface chemistry of adult workers has been studied extensively in ants, yet the pupal stage has rarely been considered. Here we characterized the surface chemistry of pupae of Formica exsecta, and examine differences among sexes, castes (reproductive vs. worker), and types of sample (developing individual vs. cocoon envelope). We found quantitative and qualitative differences among both castes and types of sample, but male and female reproductives did not differ in their surface chemistry. We also found that the pupal surface chemistry was more complex than that of adult workers in this species. These results improve our understanding of the information on which ants base recognition, and highlights the diversity of surface chemistry in social insects across developmental stages.

scholarly journals The Great Healing Potential Hidden in Plant Preparations of Antioxidant Properties: A Return to Nature?

2020 ◽  
Vol 2020 ◽  
pp. 1-55
Author(s):  
Małgorzata Kiełczykowska ◽  
Irena Musik
Keyword(s):  
Antioxidant Properties ◽  
Plant Origin ◽  
Histopathological Changes ◽  
Antioxidant Defence ◽  
Immune Parameters ◽  
Harmful Action ◽  
Current Review ◽  
Living Organisms ◽  
Pharmaceutical Agents ◽  
Better Than

The application of chemicals in industry and agriculture has contributed to environmental pollution and exposure of living organisms to harmful factors. The development of new pharmaceutical agents enabled successful therapy of various diseases, but their administration may be connected with side effects. Oxidative stress has been found to be involved into etiology of numerous diseases as well as harmful action of drugs and chemicals. For some time, plant origin substances have been studied as potential protective agents alleviating toxicity of various substances and symptoms of diseases. The aim of the current review was to present the diversity of the research performed during the last five years on animal models. The outcomes showed a huge protective potential inherent in plant preparations, including alleviating prooxidative processes, strengthening antioxidant defence, ameliorating immune parameters, and reversing histopathological changes. In many cases, plant origin substances were proved to be comparable or even better than standard drugs. Such findings let us suggest that in the future the plant preparations could make adjuvants or a replacement for pharmaceutical agents. However, the detailed research regarding dose and way of administration as well as the per se effects needs to be performed. In many studies, the last issue was not studied, and in some cases, the deleterious effects have been observed.

Chemical communication between living organisms

Endeavour ◽  
1975 ◽  
Vol 34 (122) ◽  
pp. 59-66 ◽  
Author(s):  
B KULLENBERG
Keyword(s):  
Chemical Communication ◽  
Living Organisms

scholarly journals Modulation of Reactive Oxygen Species in Health and Disease

Antioxidants ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 8 (11) ◽  
pp. 513 ◽  
Author(s):  
Solomon Habtemariam
Keyword(s):  
Reactive Oxygen Species ◽  
Chemical Communication ◽  
Reactive Oxygen ◽  
Control Mechanisms ◽  
Oxygen Species ◽  
Health And Disease ◽  
Living Organisms

In diverse living organisms, signaling within the cell, chemical communication between cells or simply the fate of cells to survive or die is largely dependent on the intricate balance of control mechanisms related to reactive oxygen species (ROS)[...]

scholarly journals Real-time nanodiamond thermometry probing in vivo thermogenic responses

2020 ◽  
Vol 6 (37) ◽  
pp. eaba9636 ◽  
Author(s):  
Masazumi Fujiwara ◽  
Simo Sun ◽  
Alexander Dohms ◽  
Yushi Nishimura ◽  
Ken Suto ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Real Time ◽  
Thermal Imaging ◽  
Biological Activities ◽  
Temperature Monitoring ◽  
Potential Applications ◽  
Sample Chamber ◽  
Chemical Stimuli ◽  
Living Organisms ◽  
Mitochondrial Uncouplers

Real-time temperature monitoring inside living organisms provides a direct measure of their biological activities. However, it is challenging to reduce the size of biocompatible thermometers down to submicrometers, despite their potential applications for the thermal imaging of subtissue structures with single-cell resolution. Here, using quantum nanothermometers based on optically accessible electron spins in nanodiamonds, we demonstrate in vivo real-time temperature monitoring inside Caenorhabditis elegans worms. We developed a microscope system that integrates a quick-docking sample chamber, particle tracking, and an error correction filter for temperature monitoring of mobile nanodiamonds inside live adult worms with a precision of ±0.22°C. With this system, we determined temperature increases based on the worms’ thermogenic responses during the chemical stimuli of mitochondrial uncouplers. Our technique demonstrates the submicrometer localization of temperature information in living animals and direct identification of their pharmacological thermogenesis, which may allow for quantification of their biological activities based on temperature.

scholarly journals Lipocalins in arthropod chemical communication

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jiao Zhu ◽  
Alessio Iannucci ◽  
Francesca Romana Dani ◽  
Wolfgang Knoll ◽  
Paolo Pelosi
Keyword(s):  
Chemical Communication ◽  
Binding Proteins ◽  
Aqueous Media ◽  
Vomeronasal Organ ◽  
Odorant Binding Proteins ◽  
Environmental Pressure ◽  
Large Numbers ◽  
Living Organisms ◽  
Odorant Binding ◽  
Chemosensory Organs

Abstract Lipocalins represent one of the most successful superfamilies of proteins. Most of them are extracellular carriers for hydrophobic ligands across aqueous media, but other functions have been reported. They are present in most living organisms including bacteria. In animals they have been identified in mammals, molluscs and arthropods; sequences have also been reported for plants. A sub-group of lipocalins, referred to as odorant-binding proteins (OBPs), mediate chemical communication in mammals by ferrying specific pheromones to the vomeronasal organ. So far, these proteins have not been reported as carriers of semiochemicals in other living organisms; instead chemical communication in arthropods is mediated by other protein families structurally unrelated to lipocalins. A search in the databases has revealed extensive duplication and differentiation of lipocalin genes in some species of insects, crustaceans and chelicerates. Their large numbers, ranging from a handful to few dozens in the same species, their wide divergence, both within and between species, and their expression in chemosensory organs suggest that such expansion may have occurred under environmental pressure, thus supporting the hypothesis that lipocalins may be involved in chemical communication in arthropods.

scholarly journals Microalgae as Contributors to Produce Biopolymers

Marine Drugs ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 19 (8) ◽  
pp. 466
Author(s):  
Rozita Madadi ◽  
Hamid Maljaee ◽  
Luísa S. Serafim ◽  
Sónia P. M. Ventura
Keyword(s):  
Food Packaging ◽  
Current Knowledge ◽  
Polymeric Materials ◽  
Current Review ◽  
Cultivation Process ◽  
Biological Sources ◽  
Living Organisms ◽  
Future Direction ◽  
Insight Into ◽  
Microalgae Growth

Biopolymers are very favorable materials produced by living organisms, with interesting properties such as biodegradability, renewability, and biocompatibility. Biopolymers have been recently considered to compete with fossil-based polymeric materials, which rase several environmental concerns. Biobased plastics are receiving growing interest for many applications including electronics, medical devices, food packaging, and energy. Biopolymers can be produced from biological sources such as plants, animals, agricultural wastes, and microbes. Studies suggest that microalgae and cyanobacteria are two of the promising sources of polyhydroxyalkanoates (PHAs), cellulose, carbohydrates (particularly starch), and proteins, as the major components of microalgae (and of certain cyanobacteria) for producing bioplastics. This review aims to summarize the potential of microalgal PHAs, polysaccharides, and proteins for bioplastic production. The findings of this review give insight into current knowledge and future direction in microalgal-based bioplastic production considering a circular economy approach. The current review is divided into three main topics, namely (i) the analysis of the main types and properties of bioplastic monomers, blends, and composites; (ii) the cultivation process to optimize the microalgae growth and accumulation of important biobased compounds to produce bioplastics; and (iii) a critical analysis of the future perspectives on the field.

An integrative omics perspective for the analysis of chemical signals in ecological interactions

2018 ◽  
Vol 47 (5) ◽  
pp. 1574-1591 ◽  
Author(s):  
A. E. Brunetti ◽  
F. Carnevale Neto ◽  
M. C. Vera ◽  
C. Taboada ◽  
D. P. Pavarini ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Chemical Signals ◽  
Ecological Interactions ◽  
Chemical Stimuli ◽  
Living Organisms ◽  
Integrative Omics

All living organisms emit, detect, and respond to chemical stimuli, thus creating an almost limitless number of interactions by means of chemical signals.

scholarly journals Special Types of Pesticides

EDIS ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 2005 (6) ◽  
Author(s):  
Frederick M. Fishel
Keyword(s):  
Growth Regulators ◽  
Cooperative Extension Service ◽  
Extension Service ◽  
Publication Date ◽  
Original Publication ◽  
Insect Growth Regulators ◽  
University Of Florida ◽  
Specific Chemical ◽  
Living Organisms ◽  
Chemical Groups

This guide discusses some unique materials that are used as pesticides. Some types of pesticides do not belong to any specific chemical groups. Some of these are synthetically manufactured; some occur naturally in the environment, and others are produced by living organisms. These pesticides include antibiotics, anticoagulants, botanicals, insect dusts, insect growth regulators, microbials, petroleum oils, pheromones, plant hormones, and soaps. This document is PI-47, one of a series of the Pesticide Information Office, Florida Cooperative Extension Service, Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences, University of Florida. Original publication date June 2005. PI-47/PI084: Special Types of Pesticides (ufl.edu)

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