Influence of two acyclic homoterpenes (Tetranorterpenes) on the foraging behavior of anthonomus grandis Boh

Magalhães, D. M., Borges, M., Laumann, R. A., Woodcock, C. M., Pickett, John ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1008-6595, Birkett, M. A. and Blassioli-Moraes, Maria Carolina 2016. Influence of two acyclic homoterpenes (Tetranorterpenes) on the foraging behavior of anthonomus grandis Boh. Journal of Chemical Ecology 42 (4) , pp. 305-313. 10.1007/s10886-016-0691-1

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Abstract

Previous studies have shown that the boll weevil, Anthonomus grandis, is attracted to constitutive and conspecific herbivore-induced cotton volatiles, preferring the blend emitted by cotton at the reproductive over the vegetative stage. Moreover, this preference was paralleled by the release of the acyclic homoterpenes (tetranorterpenes) (E)-4,8-dimethyl-1,3,7-nonatriene (DMNT) and (E,E)-4,8,12-trimethyltrideca-1,3,7,11-tetraene (TMTT) in Delta Opal cotton being higher at the vegetative than at the reproductive stage. Here, we evaluated whether this difference in release of acyclic homoterpenes also occurred in other cotton varieties, and if boll weevils could recognize these compounds as indicators of a specific cotton phenological stage. Results showed that cotton genotypes CNPA TB-90, BRS-293 and Delta Opal all produced higher levels of DMNT and TMTT at the vegetative stage than at the reproductive stage and that these homoterpenes allowed for principal component analysis separation of volatiles produced by the two phenological stages. Electroantennograms confirmed boll weevil antennal responses to DMNT and TMTT. Behavioral assays, using Y-tube olfactometers, showed that adding synthetic homoterpenes to reproductive cotton volatiles (mimicking cotton at the vegetative stage in terms of homoterpene levels) resulted in reduced attraction to boll weevils compared to that to unmodified reproductive cotton. Weevils showed no preference when given a choice between plants at the vegetative stage and the vegetative stage-mimicked plant. Altogether, the results show that DMNT and TMTT are used by boll weevils to distinguish between cotton phenological stages.

Item Type:	Article
Date Type:	Publication
Status:	Published
Schools:	Chemistry
Publisher:	Springer
ISSN:	0098-0331
Date of First Compliant Deposit:	21 November 2017
Date of Acceptance:	31 March 2016
Last Modified:	16 Nov 2024 05:30
URI:	https://orca.cardiff.ac.uk/id/eprint/106860

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