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Divergent behavioural responses of gypsy moth (Lymantria dispar) caterpillars from three different subspecies to potential host trees.

ABSTRACT: Almost all previous work on host-plant selection by insect herbivores has focused on adult behaviour; however, immature life stages can also play an active role in host discrimination. The important forest pest Lymantria dispar (gypsy moth) has three recognised subspecies: the European, Asian, and Japanese gypsy moth. Unlike the other two subspecies, the European subspecies is characterised by a loss of female flight ability, which might impose a selective pressure on larvae to actively engage in host-plant selection. We therefore explored the interactions of early-instar larvae from laboratory colonies of each subspecies with four potential hosts of differing quality: oak, beech, maple, and pine-measuring larval survival and performance, feeding preferences, responses to host-derived odour cues, and the propensity to disperse from hosts via ballooning. Compared to larvae from the Asian and Japanese subspecies, larvae from the (American-originated) European gypsy moth colony exhibited (i) significantly lower survival on the poorest quality host (pine), (ii) an ability to discriminate among hosts via olfactory cues; and (iii) higher propensity to disperse from sub-optimal hosts. These results are consistent with the hypothesis that larvae from flightless female European Gypsy moth subspecies play a more active role in host-plant selection.

SUBMITTER: Clavijo McCormick A

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6586621 | biostudies-literature | 2019 Jun

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Divergent behavioural responses of gypsy moth (Lymantria dispar) caterpillars from three different subspecies to potential host trees.

Clavijo McCormick Andrea A Arrigo Luca L Eggenberger Helen H Mescher Mark C MC De Moraes Consuelo M CM

Scientific reports 20190620 1

Almost all previous work on host-plant selection by insect herbivores has focused on adult behaviour; however, immature life stages can also play an active role in host discrimination. The important forest pest Lymantria dispar (gypsy moth) has three recognised subspecies: the European, Asian, and Japanese gypsy moth. Unlike the other two subspecies, the European subspecies is characterised by a loss of female flight ability, which might impose a selective pressure on larvae to actively engage i ...[more]

PMID: 31222054

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Project description:Pheromone-binding proteins (PBPs) of the gypsy moth, Lymantria dispar L., play an important role in olfaction. Here structures of PBPs were first built by Homology Modeling, and each model of PBPs had seven α-helices and a large hydrophobic cavity including 25 residues for PBP1 and 30 residues for PBP2. Three potential semiochemicals were first screened by CDOCKER program based on the PBP models and chemical database. These chemicals were Palmitic acid n-butyl ester (Pal), Bis(3,4-epoxycyclohexylmethyl) adipate (Bis), L-trans-epoxysuccinyl-isoleucyl-proline methyl ester propylamide (CA-074). The analysis of chemicals docking the proteins showed one hydrogen bond was established between the residues Lys94 and (+)-Disparlure ((+)-D), and л-л interactions were present between Phe36 of PBP1 and (+)-D. The Lys94 of PBP1 formed two and three hydrogen bonds with Bis and CA-074, respectively. There was no residue of PBP2 interacting with these four chemicals except Bis forming one hydrogen bond with Lys121. After simulating the conformational changes of LdisPBPs at pH7.3 and 5.5 by constant pH molecular dynamics simulation in implicit solvent, the N-terminal sequences of PBPs was unfolded, only having five α-helices, and PBP2 had larger binding pocket at 7.3 than PBP1. To investigate the changes of α-helices at different pH, far-UV and near-UV circular dichroism showed PBPs consist of α-helices, and the tertiary structures of PBP1 and PBP2 were influenced at pH7.3 and 5.5. The fluorescence binding assay indicated that PBP1 and PBP2 have similarly binding affinity to (+)-D at pH 5.5 and 7.3, respectively. At pH 5.5, the dissociation constant of the complex between PBP1 and 2-decyl-1-oxaspiro [2.2] pentane (OXP1) was 0.68 ± 0.01 μM, for (+)-D was 5.32 ± 0.11 μM, while PBP2 with OXP1 and (+)-D were 1.88 ± 0.02 μM and 5.54 ± 0.04 μM, respectively. Three chemicals screened had higher affinity to PBP1 than (+)-D except Pal at pH5.5, and had lower affinity than (+)-D at pH7.3. To PBP2, these chemicals had lower affinity than the sex pheromone except Bis at pH 5.5 and pH 7.3. Only PBP1 had higher affinity with Sal than the sex pheromone at pH 5.5. Therefore, the structures of PBP1 and PBP2 had different changes at pH5.5 and 7.3, showing different affinity to chemicals. This study helps understanding the role of PBPs as well as in developing more efficient chemicals for pest control.

Dataset Information

Divergent behavioural responses of gypsy moth (Lymantria dispar) caterpillars from three different subspecies to potential host trees.

Publications

Divergent behavioural responses of gypsy moth (Lymantria dispar) caterpillars from three different subspecies to potential host trees.

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