Olfactory Preferences of the Parasitic Nematode Howardula aoronymphium and its Insect Host Drosophila falleni.

ABSTRACT: Many parasitic nematodes have an environmental infective stage that searches for hosts. Olfaction plays an important role in this process, with nematodes navigating their environment using host-emitted and environmental olfactory cues. The interactions between parasitic nematodes and their hosts are also influenced by the olfactory behaviors of the host, since host olfactory preferences drive behaviors that may facilitate or impede parasitic infection. However, how olfaction shapes parasite-host interactions is poorly understood. Here we investigated this question using the insect-parasitic nematode Howardula aoronymphium and its host, the mushroom fly Drosophila falleni. We found that both H. aoronymphium and D. falleni are attracted to mushroom odor and a subset of mushroom-derived odora

SUBMITTER: Cevallos JA 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5673469 | biostudies-literature | 2017 Apr

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature