Little peaks with big effects: establishing the role of minor plant volatiles in plant–insect interactions

McCormick, Andrea Liliana Clavijo; Gershenzon, Jonathan; Unsicker, Sybille B.

doi:10.1111/pce.12357

Cited by 120 publications

(55 citation statements)

References 89 publications

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“…S2), indicating that each individual plant was indeed an individual genotype and not a vegetative clone. Previous studies show that minor compounds can also have significant effects on plant-insect interactions3839, thus rather than assigning chemotype by the most dominant compounds within the blend, we clustered plants into four classes based on compound concentration40. We included all detected compounds rather than limiting the analyses to only the few dominant compounds found in the profile, as has been previously described27, to assess the effects of the whole chemical profile rather than giving undue weight to dominant compounds.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Chemotypic variation in terpenes emitted from storage pools influences early aphid colonisation on tansy

Clancy

Zytynska

Senft

et al. 2016

Sci Rep

122

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Tansy plants (Tanacetum vulgare L.) exhibit high chemical variation, particularly in mono- and sesquiterpenes that are stored in specialised glands on the plant surface. In the present work we investigated the effects of terpene chemotypes on Metopeurum fuscoviride, an aphid species specialised on tansy, and their tending ants, at the field scale. Previous studies have chemotyped tansy by assessing dominant compounds; here we propose a method of chemotyping using all volatile compounds that are likely emitted from the storage glands. The analysis is based on two extraction methods: GC-MS analysis of leaf hexane extracts and SBSE analysis of headspace emissions. In an initial screening we identified the subset of compounds present in both chemical patterns, labelled as ‘compounds likely emitted from storage’. In a large field survey we could show that the putative chemotypic emission pattern from storage pools significantly affected the early aphid colonisation of tansy. Moreover, the statistical analyses revealed that minor compounds exerted a stronger influence on aphid and tending-ant presence than dominant compounds. Overall we demonstrated that within the enormous chemotypic variation of terpenes in tansy plants, chemical signatures of volatile terpenes can be related to the occurrence of insects on individual plants in the field.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Chemotypic variation in terpenes emitted from storage pools influences early aphid colonisation on tansy

Clancy

Zytynska

Senft

et al. 2016

Sci Rep

122

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

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“…Such research was aimed at the identification of specific volatiles that have attracting or repelling effects on insects [44]. Plant volatile blends consist of major semiochemicals such as terpenes and other green leaf volatiles, but also minor compounds that can have diverse effects of attracting or repelling insects [44]. These volatiles or blends of semiochemicals may facilitate the recognition of plant hosts by insects from a distance.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Whitefly attraction to rosemary (Rosmarinus officinialis L.) is associated with volatile composition and quantity

et al. 2017

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Whitefly (Bemisia tabaci) is an important insect pest, causing severe damage to agricultural crops. The pest was recorded in a commercial rosemary (Rosmarinus officinalis, Lamiaceae) field, colonizing rosemary variety (var.) '2', but not '11'. A series of field and controlled laboratory choice bioassays confirmed the observed phenomenon. Mature potted plants of the two varieties were randomly organized in a lemon verbena (Lippia citrodora) and lemon grass (Cymbopogon spp.) fields. Seven days later var. '2' was significantly more colonized by whiteflies than var. '11'. Under lab conditions, whiteflies were significantly more attracted to var. '2' plantlets than to var. '11' following choice bioassays. Furthermore, cotton plants dipped in an essential oil emulsion of var. '2' had significantly greater colonization than cotton plants dipped in the essential oil emulsion of var. '11'. Similar results were obtained in 'plant-plant', 'plant-no plant' as well as, 'essential oil—essential oil' choice bioassay designs. Analyses of the essential oils of the two varieties identified a set of common and unique volatiles in each variety. Among these volatiles were β-caryophyllene and limonene, two compounds known to be associated with plant-insect interactions. The attraction of B. tabaci to pure (>95%) β-caryophyllene and limonene using a range of concentrations was examined in vitro by choice bioassays. The compounds were attractive to the insect at moderate concentration, but not at the lowest or highest concentrations used, where the insect was not attracted or repelled, respectively. Limonene attracted the insects at rates that were 10-fold lower than β-caryophyllene. The results emphasized the role of host plant volatiles in shaping the structure of B. tabaci populations in nature and in agricultural systems, and provided insights into the factors that contribute to the development of insect populations with unique characteristics. The results could also serve for future development of bio-pesticides and in breeding programs.

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“…Although compounds are emitted in different quantities in natural blends, minor components can have a profound effect on resource location in parasitoids 6, 11 . Interestingly, decanal constituted only 1% of the total blend emitted by cotton-fed H. virescens 5 , but elicited the highest EAG response in M. croceipes , supporting the “little peaks-big effects” concept 6 . On the other hand, ( E )-β-caryophyllene, the most abundant blend component, elicited a relatively low EAG response in parasitoids.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The compounds in the attractive blend occurred in varying proportions ( Table 1). However, the relative abundance of a blend component does not necessarily indicate its relevance to resource location in insects 6 . In the present study, olfactory response of M .…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Electroantennogram response of the parasitoid, Microplitis croceipes to host-related odors: The discrepancy between relative abundance and level of antennal responses to volatile compound

2016

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Herbivores emit volatile organic compounds (VOCs) after feeding on plants. Parasitoids exploit these VOCs as odor cues to locate their hosts. In nature, host-related odors are emitted as blends of various compounds occurring in different proportions, and minor blend components can sometimes have profound effects on parasitoid responses. In a previous related study, we identified and quantified VOCs emitted by cotton plant-fed Heliothis virescens (Lepidoptera: Noctuidae) larvae, an herbivore host of the parasitoid Microplitis croceipes (Hymenoptera: Braconidae). In the present study, the olfactory response of female M. croceipes to synthetic versions of 15 previously identified compounds was tested in electroantennogram (EAG) bioassays. Using M. croceipes as a model species, we further asked the question: does the relative abundance of a volatile compound match the level of antennal response in parasitoids? Female M. croceipes showed varying EAG responses to test compounds, indicating different levels of bioactivity in the insect antenna. Eight compounds, including decanal, 1-octen-3-ol, 3-octanone, 2-ethylhexanol, tridecane, tetradecane, α-farnesene and bisabolene, elicited EAG responses above or equal to the 50 th percentile rank of all responses. Interestingly, decanal, which represented only 1% of the total amount of odors emitted by cotton-fed hosts, elicited the highest (0.82 mV) EAG response in parasitoids. On the other hand, ( E)-β-caryophyllene, the most abundant (29%) blend component, elicited a relatively low (0.17 mV) EAG response. The results suggest that EAG response to host-related volatiles in parasitoids is probably more influenced by the ecological relevance or functional role of the compound in the blend, rather than its relative abundance.

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Little peaks with big effects: establishing the role of minor plant volatiles in plant–insect interactions

Cited by 120 publications

References 89 publications

Chemotypic variation in terpenes emitted from storage pools influences early aphid colonisation on tansy

Chemotypic variation in terpenes emitted from storage pools influences early aphid colonisation on tansy

Whitefly attraction to rosemary (Rosmarinus officinialis L.) is associated with volatile composition and quantity

Electroantennogram response of the parasitoid, Microplitis croceipes to host-related odors: The discrepancy between relative abundance and level of antennal responses to volatile compound

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