The Scent of Life: Phoretic Nematodes Use Wasp Volatiles and Carbon Dioxide to Choose Functional Vehicles for Dispersal
Autor: | Jean-Marie Bessière, Satyajeet Gupta, Anusha L. K. Kumble, Renee M. Borges, Kaveri Dey |
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Rok vydání: | 2021 |
Předmět: |
Male
0106 biological sciences Entomology Nematoda Pollination Wasps Zoology Biology 01 natural sciences Biochemistry Community associated Animals Chemical senses Ecosystem Ecology Evolution Behavior and Systematics Mutualism (biology) Volatile Organic Compounds Behavior Animal Obligate General Medicine Carbon Dioxide Ficus biology.organism_classification 010602 entomology Nematode Biological dispersal Female 010606 plant biology & botany |
Zdroj: | Journal of Chemical Ecology. 47:139-152 |
ISSN: | 1573-1561 0098-0331 |
Popis: | Hitchhikers (phoretic organisms) need vehicles to disperse out of unsuitable habitats. Therefore, finding vehicles with the right functional attributes is essential for phoretic organisms. To locate these vehicles, phoretic organisms employ cues within modalities, ranging from visual to chemical senses. However, how hitchhikers discriminate between individual vehicles has rarely been investigated. Using a phoretic nematode community associated with an obligate fig-fig wasp pollination mutualism, we had earlier established that hitchhiking nematodes make decisions based on vehicle species identity and number of conspecific hitchhikers already present on the vehicle. Here we investigate if hitchhikers can differentiate between physiological states of vehicles. We asked whether phoretic nematodes choose between live or dead vehicles present in a chemically crowded environment and we investigated the basis for any discrimination. We conducted two-choice and single-choice behavioral assays using single nematodes and found that plant- and animal-parasitic nematodes preferred live over dead vehicles and used volatiles as a sensory cue to make this decision. However, in single-choice assays, animal-parasitic nematodes were also attracted towards naturally dead or freeze-killed wasps. The volatile profile of the wasps was dominated by terpenes and spiroketals. We examined the volatile blend emitted by the different wasp physiological states and determined a set of volatiles that the phoretic nematodes might use to discriminate between these states which is likely coupled with respired CO2. We determined that CO2 levels emitted by single wasps are sufficient to attract nematodes, demonstrating the high sensitivity of nematodes to this metabolic product. |
Databáze: | OpenAIRE |
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