Insect olfaction from model systems to disease control

Abstract

Great progress has been made in the field of insect olfaction in recent years. Receptors, neurons, and circuits have been defined in considerable detail, and the mechanisms by which they detect, encode, and process sensory stimuli are being unraveled. We provide a guide to recent progress in the field, with special attention to advances made in the genetic model organism Drosophila. We highlight key questions that merit additional investigation. We then present our view of how recent advances may be applied to the control of diseasecarrying insects such as mosquitoes, which transmit disease to hundreds of millions of people each year. We suggest how progress in defining the basic mechanisms of insect olfaction may lead to means of disrupting host-seeking and other olfactory behaviors, thereby reducing the transmission of deadly diseases.olfactory coding | odorant receptor | olfactory circuits | vector biology | pheromone T he insect olfactory system has emerged as a prominent model in neuroscience. Investigation of its organization and function has revealed surprising answers to fundamental questions of how an animal detects, encodes, and processes sensory stimuli. The olfactory system is also of immense importance in the natural world, where it mediates attraction of insects to humans and thus underlies the transmission of disease to hundreds of millions of people each year.Remarkable progress has been made over the past decade in elucidating mechanisms of insect olfaction, in many cases facilitated by the genetic tractability of the model organism Drosophila melanogaster. Here, we consider recent advances in the understanding of insect olfactory receptors, neurons, and circuits made in Drosophila and other insect species. We present our view that this emerging body of knowledge poises the field to make major contributions to the control of insect pests and vectors of disease, and we highlight strategies for olfactory-based vector control. We offer our perspective on the most critical challenges to fulfilling this technological promise and to solving the scientific problem of how olfactory input is translated into behavioral output.

Olfaction shapes host–parasite interactions in parasitic nematodes

“…nematodes and schistosomes, as well as for many ectoparasites such as blood-feeding insects, ticks, and lice (82)(83)(84)(85)(86). We show that EPNs respond differently to the odors of different potential hosts, and we identify a number of host-derived odorants that stimulate strong attractive and repulsive behavioral responses.…”

Inhibition of Anopheles gambiae Odorant Receptor Function by Mosquito Repellents

“…The great progress made recently in our understanding of the molecular mechanism(s) of insect olfactory function (4 -6) has thus created hope for rational development of improved repellents and/or attractants that could effect a significant reduction in the rate of transmission of malaria and other infectious diseases transmitted by different insect and other arthropod vectors (4,7).…”

Electrophysiological and behavioral responses of pea weevil Bruchus pisorum L. (Coleóptera: Bruchidae) to volatiles collected from its host Pisum sativum L

“…Besides the climatic and geographic factors, high phenological variation in volatiles emission occurs (Casado et al, 2006;Dudareva et al, 2006) and compounds have different systematic distributions (Kundsen et al, 1993). The perception of these compounds by insects depends on its olfactory receptor neurons, mostly in the antennalsensillae (Sato and Touhara, 2009;Carey and Carlson, 2011;Hansson and Stensmyr, 2011). The perception of blends of plant volatiles plays a pivotal role in host recognition, non-host avoidance and ensuing behavioral responses as different responses can occur to a whole blend compared to individual components .…”