title: Preferences of the peripheral olfactory system of Western Flower Thrips,Frankliniella occidentalistowards stereoisomers of common plant volatiles.
abstract: Stereochemistry plays a significant role in structure-activity relationships of messenger chemicals. The ability to distinguish between enantiomers and geometric isomers, however, may be limited to certain stereoisomeric substances, depending on the receiver. In this study, we assessed the preference of the peripheral olfactometry system of Western Flower Thrips,F. occidentalistowards ubiquitously expressed host compounds, with a goal of establishing whether particular stereoisomers enhance host odour recognition. We demonstrate that the peripheral olfactory system of a highly polyphagous thysanopteran insect has evolved to become highly sensitive to a type of green leaf volatile, which is highly ubiquitous in the plant kingdom. We show that there is a significantly greater antennal response to thecisisomer, more so than the isomerisation by-producttrans-3-hexen-1-ol. We demonstrate that the antennae of a highly polyphagous insect are capable of detecting common plant secondary metabolites in both enantiomeric forms.
authors.affiliation: Department of Biosciences, Swansea University, Singleton Park, Swansea, SA2 8PP UK.
authors.forename: Zayed S
authors.initials: ZS
authors.lastname: Abdullah
authors.affiliation: Department of Biosciences, Swansea University, Singleton Park, Swansea, SA2 8PP UK.
authors.forename: Tariq M
authors.initials: TM
authors.lastname: Butt
keywords: Electroantennogram; Enantioselectivity; Frankliniella occidentalis; Olfaction; Polyphagous; Stereoisomers