Abstract
Moths are exemplars of chemical communication, especially with regard to specificity and the minute amounts they use. Yet, little is known about how females manage synthesis and storage of pheromone to maintain release rates attractive to conspecific males and why such small amounts are used. We developed, for the first time, a quantitative model, based on an extensive empirical data set, describing the dynamical relationship among synthesis, storage (titer) and release of pheromone over time in a moth (Heliothis virescens). The model is compartmental, with one major state variable (titer), one time-varying (synthesis), and two constant (catabolism and release) rates. The model was a good fit, suggesting it accounted for the major processes. Overall, we found the relatively small amounts of pheromone stored and released were largely a function of high catabolism rather than a low rate of synthesis. A paradigm shift may be necessary to understand the low amounts released by female moths, away from the small quantities synthesized to the (relatively) large amounts catabolized. Future research on pheromone quantity should focus on structural and physicochemical processes that limit storage and release rate quantities. To our knowledge, this is the first time that pheromone gland function has been modeled for any animal.
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Acknowledgements
This work was funded in part by a United States Department of Agriculture Hatch Project ND02388 (to SPF). The purchase of the GC/MS system was funded in part by a United States Department of Agriculture–National Institute of Food and Agriculture Instrument Grant, 2015-07238 (to SPF). We thank Le Studium Loire Valley Institute for Advanced Studies and Dr. D. Giron for supporting the visit of SPF to Tours, where this collaboration was initiated. We also thank Dr. T. Zemb (ICSM, Site de Marcoule) and the INOV group at IRBI for discussions and comments on the work.
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Foster, S.P., Anderson, K.G. & Casas, J. The Dynamics of Pheromone Gland Synthesis and Release: a Paradigm Shift for Understanding Sex Pheromone Quantity in Female Moths. J Chem Ecol 44, 525–533 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10886-018-0963-z
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10886-018-0963-z