Odorant Receptors Mediating Avoidance of Toxic Mustard Oils in Drosophila melanogaster Are Expanded in Herbivorous Relatives.

ABSTRACT: Plants release defense volatile compounds that can deter herbivores. Among them are electrophilic toxins, such as isothiocyanates from mustard plants, that activate pain receptors by contact (i.e. taste) in many animals, including Drosophila melanogaster. While specialist insects have evolved strategies to tolerate toxicity and use mustard plants as hosts, it is unclear whether nonspecialist insects detect and avoid electrophilic toxins via olfaction. To address this, and to understand if specialized insects co-opted these toxic compounds as host plant olfactory cues, we leveraged closely related drosophilid species, including the microbe-feeding D. melanogaster and Scaptomyza pallida, and the mustard-feeding specialist Scaptomyza flava. In olfactory assays, D. melanogaster exposed to ally

SUBMITTER: Matsunaga T 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC12448936 | biostudies-literature | 2025 Sep

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature