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Chemical Senses Advance Access originally published online on September 21, 2009
Chemical Senses 2009 34(9):763-774; doi:10.1093/chemse/bjp060
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© The Author 2009. Published by Oxford University Press. All rights reserved. For permissions, please e-mail: journals.permissions@oxfordjournals.org

Plant Terpenes Affect Intensity and Temporal Parameters of Pheromone Detection in a Moth

Virginie Party1, Christophe Hanot1, Imene Said2, Didier Rochat1 and Michel Renou1

1 Unité Mixte de Recherche 1272 Physiologie de l’Insecte, Signalisation et Communication, Institut National de la Recherche Agronomique, Université Pierre et Marie Curie, Route de Saint-Cyr, 78000 Versailles Cedex, France 2 Unité de Biochimie Macromoléculaire et Génétique, Faculté des Sciences de Gafsa, cité Zarroug, 2112 Gafsa, Tunisia

Correspondence to be sent to: Michel Renou, Unité Mixte de Recherche 1272 Physiologie de l’Insecte, Signalisation et Communication, Institut National de la Recherche Agronomique, Université Pierre et Marie Curie, Route de Saint-Cyr, 78000 Versailles Cedex, France. e-mail: renou{at}versailles.inra.fr


  Abstract

In moths, the components of the female pheromone blend are detected in the male antennae by pheromone olfactory receptor neurons (Ph-ORNs) expressing narrowly tuned olfactory receptors. Responses to sex pheromones have generally been thought to be independent from the odorant background. However, interactions between pheromone components and plant volatiles have been reported at behavioral and detection levels. To document the mechanisms of such interactions, we analyzed Ph-ORN responses of Spodoptera littoralis to the main pheromone component, Z9E11-14:Ac, in the presence of 4 monoterpenes. To mimic natural contexts in which plant odors and pheromone emanate from different sources, the 2 stimuli were presented with different temporal patterns and from independent sources. Linalool reversibly reduced the firing response to Z9E11-14:Ac and produced an off effect. Geraniol and geranyl and linalyl acetates reduced the responses to Z9E11-14:Ac with a longer time course. Pulses of linalool over prolonged pheromone stimulation resulted in a discontinuous firing activity. Pulses of pheromone were better separated over a background of linalool, compared with odorless air. The data confirm that plant compounds may modulate the intensity and the temporal coding by Ph-ORNs of pheromone information. This modulation might positively affect mate location at high pheromone density especially nearby a pheromone source.

Key words: odorant interactions, olfaction, olfactory receptor neurons, plant volatile compounds

Accepted 26 August 2009


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