1
|
Van Winkle T, Ponce M, Quellhorst H, Bruce A, Albin CE, Kim TN, Zhu KY, Morrison WR. Microbial Volatile Organic Compounds from Tempered and Incubated Grain Mediate Attraction by a Primary but Not Secondary Stored Product Insect Pest in Wheat. J Chem Ecol 2021; 48:27-40. [PMID: 34542783 PMCID: PMC8801404 DOI: 10.1007/s10886-021-01312-8] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/26/2021] [Revised: 07/31/2021] [Accepted: 08/22/2021] [Indexed: 12/04/2022]
Abstract
There has been a dearth of research elucidating the behavioral effect of microbially-produced volatile organic compounds on insects in postharvest agriculture. Demonstrating attraction to MVOC’s by stored product insects would provide an additional source of unique behaviorally-relevant stimuli to protect postharvest commodities at food facilities. Here, we assessed the behavioral response of a primary (Rhyzopertha dominica) and secondary (Tribolium castaneum) grain pest to bouquets of volatiles produced by whole wheat that were untempered, or tempered to 12%, 15%, or 19% grain moisture and incubated for 9, 18, or 27 days. We hypothesized that MVOC’s may be more important for the secondary feeder because they signal that otherwise unusable, intact grains have become susceptible by weakening of the bran. However, contrary to our expectations, we found that the primary feeder, R. dominica, but not T. castaneum was attracted to MVOC’s in a wind tunnel experiment, and in a release-recapture assay using commercial traps baited with grain treatments. Increasing grain moisture resulted in elevated grain damage detected by near-infrared spectroscopy and resulted in small but significant differences in the blend of volatiles emitted by treatments detected by gas chromatography coupled with mass spectrometry (GC–MS). In sequencing the microbial community on the grain, we found a diversity of fungi, suggesting that an assemblage was responsible for emissions. We conclude that R. dominica is attracted to a broader suite of MVOC’s than T. castaneum, and that our work highlights the importance of understanding insect-microbe interactions in the postharvest agricultural supply chain.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Taylor Van Winkle
- School of Planning, Design, and Construction, Michigan State University, East Lansing, MI, USA
| | - Marco Ponce
- Department of Entomology, Kansas State University, Manhattan, KS, 66506, USA
| | - Hannah Quellhorst
- Department of Entomology, Kansas State University, Manhattan, KS, 66506, USA
| | - Alexander Bruce
- USDA-ARS Center for Grain and Animal Health Research, Manhattan, KS, 66502, USA
| | - Chloe E Albin
- Department of Engineering, Kansas State University, Manhattan, KS, 66506, USA
| | - Tania N Kim
- Department of Entomology, Kansas State University, Manhattan, KS, 66506, USA
| | - Kun Yan Zhu
- Department of Entomology, Kansas State University, Manhattan, KS, 66506, USA
| | - William R Morrison
- USDA-ARS Center for Grain and Animal Health Research, Manhattan, KS, 66502, USA.
| |
Collapse
|
2
|
Peach DAH, Carroll C, Meraj S, Gomes S, Galloway E, Balcita A, Coatsworth H, Young N, Uriel Y, Gries R, Lowenberger C, Moore M, Gries G. Nectar-dwelling microbes of common tansy are attractive to its mosquito pollinator, Culex pipiens L. BMC Ecol Evol 2021; 21:29. [PMID: 33593286 PMCID: PMC7885224 DOI: 10.1186/s12862-021-01761-5] [Citation(s) in RCA: 10] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/16/2020] [Accepted: 02/08/2021] [Indexed: 11/14/2022] Open
Abstract
Background There is widespread interkingdom signalling between insects and microbes. For example, microbes found in floral nectar may modify its nutritional composition and produce odorants that alter the floral odor bouquet which may attract insect pollinators. Mosquitoes consume nectar and can pollinate flowers. We identified microbes isolated from nectar of common tansy, Tanacetum vulgare, elucidated the microbial odorants, and tested their ability to attract the common house mosquito, Culex pipiens. Results We collected 19 microbial isolates from T. vulgare nectar, representing at least 12 different taxa which we identified with 16S or 26S rDNA sequencing as well as by biochemical and physiological tests. Three microorganisms (Lachancea thermotolerans, Micrococcus lactis, Micrococcus luteus) were grown on culture medium and tested in bioassays. Only the yeast L. thermotolerans grown on nectar, malt extract agar, or in synthetic nectar broth significantly attracted Cx. pipiens females. The odorant profile produced by L. thermotolerans varied with the nutritional composition of the culture medium. All three microbes grown separately, but presented concurrently, attracted fewer Cx. pipiens females than L. thermotolerans by itself. Conclusions Floral nectar of T. vulgare contains various microbes whose odorants contribute to the odor profile of inflorescences. In addition, L. thermotolerans produced odorants that attract Cx. pipiens females. As the odor profile of L. thermotolerans varied with the composition of the culture medium, we hypothesize that microbe odorants inform nectar-foraging mosquitoes about the availability of certain macro-nutrients which, in turn, affect foraging decisions by mosquitoes.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- D A H Peach
- Simon Fraser University, 8888 University Drive, Burnaby, BC, Canada. .,The University of British Columbia, 2329 West Mall, Vancouver, BC, Canada.
| | - C Carroll
- Simon Fraser University, 8888 University Drive, Burnaby, BC, Canada
| | - S Meraj
- Simon Fraser University, 8888 University Drive, Burnaby, BC, Canada
| | - S Gomes
- Simon Fraser University, 8888 University Drive, Burnaby, BC, Canada
| | - E Galloway
- Simon Fraser University, 8888 University Drive, Burnaby, BC, Canada
| | - A Balcita
- Simon Fraser University, 8888 University Drive, Burnaby, BC, Canada.,University of Saskatchewan, 129-72 Campus Drive, Saskatoon, SK, Canada
| | - H Coatsworth
- Simon Fraser University, 8888 University Drive, Burnaby, BC, Canada.,Emerging Pathogens Institute, University of Florida, 2055 Mowry Road, Gainesville, FL, USA
| | - N Young
- Simon Fraser University, 8888 University Drive, Burnaby, BC, Canada
| | - Y Uriel
- Simon Fraser University, 8888 University Drive, Burnaby, BC, Canada
| | - R Gries
- Simon Fraser University, 8888 University Drive, Burnaby, BC, Canada
| | - C Lowenberger
- Simon Fraser University, 8888 University Drive, Burnaby, BC, Canada
| | - M Moore
- Simon Fraser University, 8888 University Drive, Burnaby, BC, Canada
| | - G Gries
- Simon Fraser University, 8888 University Drive, Burnaby, BC, Canada
| |
Collapse
|