Terenius, Olle
- Department of Ecology, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences
Abstract
The pine weevil is one of the most important pest insects of conifer reforestation areas in Europe. Female pine weevils cover their eggs with chewed bark and feces (frass) resulting in avoidance behavior of feeding conspecifics towards egg laying sites. It has been suggested that microorganisms present in the frass may be responsible for producing deterrent compounds for the pine weevil. The fungi Ophiostoma canum, O. pluriannulatum, and yeast Debaryomyces hansenii were isolated from aseptically collected pine-weevil frass. The isolated fungi were cultured on weevil frass broth and their volatiles were collected by SPME and identified by GC MS. D. hansenii produced methyl salicylate (MeS) as a major compound, whereas, in addition, O. canum and O. pluriannulatum produced 6-protoilludene. In a multi-choice lab bioassay, MeS strongly reduced pine weevil's attraction to the Pinus sylvestris volatiles. Thus, a fungal metabolite was found that strongly affects the pine weevil host-odor search. (C) 2014 Elsevier Ltd and The British Mycological Society. All rights reserved.
Keywords
Antifeedant; Blue stain fungus; Chemical communication; Debaryomyces hansenii; Frass; Hylobius abietis; Methyl salicylate; Ophiostoma; Pine weevil
Published in
Fungal Ecology
2015, volume: 13, pages: 103-111
Publisher: ELSEVIER SCI LTD
SLU Authors
Nordlander, Göran
- Department of Ecology, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences
- Department of Ecology, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences
Nordenhem, Henrik
- Department of Ecology, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences
- Department of Ecology, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences
Global goals (SDG)
UKÄ Subject classification
Organic Chemistry
Behavioral Sciences Biology
Ecology
Publication identifier
- DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.funeco.2014.08.009
Permanent link to this page (URI)
https://res.slu.se/id/publ/68392