Chemoecology 

About: Chemoecology is an academic journal published by Springer Science+Business Media. The journal publishes majorly in the area(s): Sex pheromone & Population. It has an ISSN identifier of 0937-7409. Over the lifetime, 823 publications have been published receiving 23524 citations. The journal is also known as: Chemo & Evolution and mechanisms of the chemical base of ecological interactions.

Plant chemistry and insect sequestration.

Abstract: Most plant families are distinguished by characteristic secondary metabolites, which can function as putative defence against herbivores. However, many herbivorous insects of different orders can make use of these plant-synthesised compounds by ingesting and storing them in their body tissue or integument. Such sequestration of putatively unpalatable or toxic metabolites can enhance the insects’ own defence against enemies and may also be involved in reproductive behaviour. This review gives a comprehensive overview of all groups of secondary plant metabolites for which sequestration by insect herbivores belonging to different orders has been demonstrated. Sequestered compounds include various aromatic compounds, nitrogen-containing metabolites such as alkaloids, cyanogenic glycosides, glucosinolates and other sulphur-containing metabolites, and isoprenoids such as cardiac glycosides, cucurbitacins, iridoid glycosides and others. Sequestration of plant compounds has been investigated most in insects feeding or gathering on Apocynaceae s.l. (Apocynoideae, Asclepiaoideae), Aristolochiaceae, Asteraceae, Boraginaceae, Fabaceae and Plantaginaceae, but it also occurs for some gymnosperms and even lichens. In total, more than 250 insect species have been shown to sequester plant metabolites from at least 40 plant families. Sequestration predominates in the Coleoptera and Lepidoptera, but also occurs frequently in the orders Heteroptera, Hymenoptera, Orthoptera and Sternorrhyncha. Patterns of sequestration mechanisms for various compound classes and common or individual features occurring in different insect orders are highlighted. More research is needed to elucidate the specific transport mechanisms and the physiological processes of sequestration in various insect species.

Agrobacterium-mediated transformation of Nicotiana attenuata, a model ecological expression system

Abstract: Research into the genetic basis of the ecological sophistication of plants is hampered by the availability of transformable systems with a wealth of well-described ecological interactions. We present an Agrobacterium-mediated transformation system for the model ecological expression system, Nicotiana attenuata, a native tobacco that occupies the post-fire niche in the Great Basin Desert of North America. We describe a transformation vector and a transformation procedure that differs from the standard cultivated tobacco transformation protocols in its use of selectable markers, explants, media and cultivation conditions. We illustrate its utility in the transformations with genes coding for key enzymes in the oxylipin cascade (lipoxygenase, allene oxide synthase, hydroperoxide lyase) in antisense orientations and present high-throughput screens useful for the detection of altered phenotypes for the oxylipin cascade (green leaf volatiles and jasmonic acid after wounding).

A review of the chemical ecology of the Cerambycidae (Coleoptera)

Abstract: This review summarizes the literature related to the chemical ecology of the Cerambycidae and provides a brief overview of cerambycid biology, ecology, economic significance, and management. Beetles in the family Cerambycidae have assumed increasing prominence as pests of forest and shade trees, shrubs, and raw wood products, and as vectors of tree diseases. Exotic species associated with solid wood packing materials have been notable tree killers in North American urban and peri-urban forests. In forested ecosystems native species respond to disturbances such as fires and windstorms, and initiate the biodeterioration of woody tissue. Eggs are laid by females, on or through the bark surface of stem and branch tissue of moribund, recently killed or decomposing woody plants; larval cerambycids (roundheaded woodborers) typically feed in the phloem and later in the xylem. Females will also, in some cases, select living hosts, e.g. adult conifer and angiosperm trees, for oviposition. Research on the chemical ecology of over 70 species has revealed many examples of attractive kairomones (such as floral volatiles, smoke volatiles, trunk and leaf volatiles, and bark beetle pheromones), repellents and deterrents, oviposition stimulants, short- and long-range sex pheromones, and defensive substances. Emerging generalities are that attractants tend to be monoterpenoids and phenolic esters; oviposition stimulants are monoterpenoids and flavanoids; short-range sex pheromones are female-produced, methyl-branched cuticular hydrocarbons; and long-range sex pheromones are male-produced α-hydroxy ketones and (α,β)-diols ranging in length from 6 to 10 carbons. The latter compounds appear to originate from glands in the male thorax; putative defensive substances originate from metasternal secretory pores or mandibular glands. In one unusual case, a flightless, subterranean female that attacks sugar cane produces a sex pheromone that is derived from the amino acid isoleucine. With significantly more than 35,000 species of Cerambycidae worldwide, these generalities will be subject to change as more species are examined.

“Pheromones and Animal Behaviour” - Communication by Smell and Taste”

Abstract: Summary.((no summary.))

Attraction, deterrence or intoxication of bees (Apis mellifera) by plant allelochemicals

Abstract: The influence of 63 dietary allelochemicals (alkaloids, terpenes, glycosides,etc.) on the feeding behaviour of bees (Apis mellifera) was tested in terms of deterrency and attraction. For 39 compounds a deterrent (mostly alkaloids, coumarins and saponins) and for 3 compounds an attractive response (mostly terpenes) was obtained in choice tests, which allowed the calculation of respective ED50-values. Under no-choice conditions, 17 out of 29 allelochemicals caused mortality at concentrations between 0.003 and 0.6%. Especially toxic were alkaloids, saponins, cardiac glycosides and cyanogenic glycosides. These data show that bees which are confronted with plant allelochemicals in nectar and pollen, are not especially adapted (i.e. insensitive) to the plants' defence chemistry. GLC and GLS-MS data are given on the alkaloid composition of nectar and pollen ofBrugmansia aurea, Atropa belladonna andLupinus polyphyllus.