LE3 .A278 2020

2020

Easy, Russell
Hillier, Kirk

Acadia University

Bachelor of Science

Honours

Biology

Biology

Autodetection is a term used in insect pheromone communication to describes the ability of females to detect their own conspecific sex pheromone blend. The importance of autodetection to calling, spacing and other mating-related behaviour in the family Heliothinae is a recently emerging field of study, and as such the molecular mechanisms involved in the regulation of heliothine autodetection remain poorly understood. The objectives of this study were to examine the response of antennal olfactory receptors (ORs) following to pheromone exposure in female moths, and to examine if changes in antenna OR expression were related to changes in pheromone gland OR expression or pheromone composition. Individual female Heliothis virescens moths were isolated and subjected to 18-hour exposure to either the minor component of their pheromone blend, (Z)9-14:Ald, or to a hexane control. The pheromone blends of moths exposed to (Z)9-14: Ald had a slightly decreased ratio of (Z)11-16: Ald to (Z)9-14: Ald, from 5.31 to 3.83, as measured by relative amounts of both compounds measured by chromatography. The expression of OR6 was found to have increased in the antenna tissue samples, and decreased in the pheromone gland tissue samples. The results suggest that in female heliothine moths, pheromone exposure may influence OR expression on the antenna as well as in other tissues, which may subsequently influence pheromone production and related behavioral outcomes in mating.

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https://scholar.acadiau.ca/islandora/object/theses:3409