Yeast Volatomes Differentially Affect Larval Feeding in an Insect Herbivore

Abstract

Yeasts interface insect herbivores with their food plants. Communication depends on volatile metabolites, and decoding this chemical dialogue is key to understanding the ecology of insect-yeast interactions. This study explores the volatomes of eight yeast species which have been isolated from foliage, from flowers or fruit, and from plant-feeding insects. These yeasts each release a rich bouquet of volatile metabolites, including a suite of known insect attractants from plant and floral scent. This overlap underlines the phylogenetic dimension of insect-yeast associations, which according to the fossil record long predate the appearance of flowering plants. Volatome composition is characteristic for each species, aligns with yeast taxonomy, and is further reflected by a differential behavioral response of cotton leafworm larvae, which naturally feed on foliage of a wide spectrum of broad-leaved plants. Larval discrimination may establish and maintain associations with yeasts and is also a substrate for designing sustainable insect management techniques.

The female pheromone (Z)-4-undecenal mediates flight attraction and courtship in Drosophila melanogaster

“…Comparison of pheromone blend attraction with vinegar and yeast shows that yeast overrides differences between pheromones (Figure 1). Vinegar, derived from acetic acid bacteria fermentation (Lynch et al 2019), is a widely used standard food attractant for D. melanogaster, although live yeast aroma is much richer in composition (Callejón et al 2009, Chinnici et al 2009, Becher et al 2010, Ljunggren et al 2019. Yeast growing on ripe fruit is also a biologically more relevant attractant, since it attracts flies for oviposition and since yeast is a sufficient substrate for larval development (Becher et al 2012, Grangeteau et al 2018, Quan and Eisen 2018, Murgier et al 2019. )…”

“…Over-ripe fermenting fruit, on the other hand, is a feeding, mating, and oviposition site for fruit flies. Yeasts growing on fruit release a very rich volatome, that accounts for strong fly attraction (Becher et al 2012, Buser et al 2014, Christiaens et al 2014, Ljunggren et al 2019.…”

Designing Function-Specific Plant Systems for Sustainable Urban Development

“…Architects routinely incorporate plants into building designs for aesthetic reasons, yet being more conscious about what plants and trees are used could increase the impact of these features on human health and the environment. Research on volatilomes is in its infancy (Giannoukos et al, 2019), but several studies suggest that the compounds produced by plants and bacteria can impact human health and well-being (Maffei et al, 2011;Ljunggren et al, 2019;Liddicoat et al, 2020). These VOCs (such as terpenoids) are highly lipophilic and can pass the blood-brain barrier, causing neurophysiological and behavioral changes in mammals (such as reduced anxiety and improved memory), while also reducing risk/duration of infections and other illnesses (Maffei et al, 2011).…”

The human odorant receptor OR10A6 is tuned to the pheromone of the commensal fruit fly Drosophila melanogaster

“…What is the source of Z4-11Al in a human odorscape? Animals, plants and associated microbes each release many hundreds of compounds and these volatile emissions change with age, phenology and phyisological state (Knudsen et al 1993, El-Sayed 2020, Lemfack et al 2018, Ljunggren et al 2019). Z4-11Al has not been searched for, synthetic standards are not commercially available and we can safely assume that the occurrence of Z4-11Al is only incompletely known.…”