TY - JOUR
T1 - Herbivorous caterpillars can utilize three mechanisms to alter green leaf volatile emission
AU - Jones, Anne C.
AU - Seidl-Adams, Irmgard
AU - Engelberth, Jurgen
AU - Hunter, Charles T.
AU - Alborn, Hans
AU - Tumlinson, James H.
N1 - Funding Information:
We thank the Stephenson Lab at Penn State for supplying insects and the United States Department of Agriculture National Institute of Food and Agriculture Pre-Doctoral Fellowship (2017–06899) for partial funding.
Publisher Copyright:
© The Author(s) 2019. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of Entomological Society of America. All rights reserved.
PY - 2019/4/3
Y1 - 2019/4/3
N2 - Green plants emit green leaf volatiles (GLVs) as a general damage response. These compounds act as signals for the emitter plant, neighboring plants, and even for insects in the ecosystem. However, when oral secretions from certain caterpillars are applied to wounded leaves, GLV emissions are significantly decreased or modified. We examined four caterpillar species representing two lepidopteran families for their capacity to decrease GLV emissions from Zea mays leaf tissue. We also investigated the source of the GLV modifying components in the alimentary tract of the various caterpillars. In Spodoptera exigua (Hübner) (Lepidoptera: Noctuidae), Spodoptera frugiperda (Smith) (Lepidoptera: Noctuidae), Trichoplusia ni (Hübner) (Lepidoptera: Noctuidae), and Manduca sexta (Linnaeus) (Lepidoptera: Sphingidae), we found three distinct mechanisms to modify GLV emission: a heat-stable compound in the gut, a heat-labile enzyme in salivary gland homogenate (previously described in Bombyx mori (Linnaeus) (Lepidoptera: Bombycidae), and an isomerase in the salivary gland homogenate, which catalyzes the conversion of (Z)-3-hexenal to (E)-2-hexenal (previously described in M. sexta). These mechanisms employed by caterpillars to suppress or modify GLV emission suggest a counteraction against the induced indirect volatile defenses of a plant and provides further insights into the ecological functions of GLVs.
AB - Green plants emit green leaf volatiles (GLVs) as a general damage response. These compounds act as signals for the emitter plant, neighboring plants, and even for insects in the ecosystem. However, when oral secretions from certain caterpillars are applied to wounded leaves, GLV emissions are significantly decreased or modified. We examined four caterpillar species representing two lepidopteran families for their capacity to decrease GLV emissions from Zea mays leaf tissue. We also investigated the source of the GLV modifying components in the alimentary tract of the various caterpillars. In Spodoptera exigua (Hübner) (Lepidoptera: Noctuidae), Spodoptera frugiperda (Smith) (Lepidoptera: Noctuidae), Trichoplusia ni (Hübner) (Lepidoptera: Noctuidae), and Manduca sexta (Linnaeus) (Lepidoptera: Sphingidae), we found three distinct mechanisms to modify GLV emission: a heat-stable compound in the gut, a heat-labile enzyme in salivary gland homogenate (previously described in Bombyx mori (Linnaeus) (Lepidoptera: Bombycidae), and an isomerase in the salivary gland homogenate, which catalyzes the conversion of (Z)-3-hexenal to (E)-2-hexenal (previously described in M. sexta). These mechanisms employed by caterpillars to suppress or modify GLV emission suggest a counteraction against the induced indirect volatile defenses of a plant and provides further insights into the ecological functions of GLVs.
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U2 - 10.1093/ee/nvy191
DO - 10.1093/ee/nvy191
M3 - Article
C2 - 30668656
AN - SCOPUS:85064133533
SN - 0046-225X
VL - 48
SP - 419
EP - 425
JO - Environmental Entomology
JF - Environmental Entomology
IS - 2
ER -