Dendrobaena veneta avoids ethyl pentanoate and ethyl hexanoate, two compounds produced by the soil fungus Geotrichum candidum.

ABSTRACT: Earthworms shape the biological and physicochemical qualities of the soil they choose to reside in, but our understanding of the specific chemicals that attract or repel a particular species of earthworm remains incomplete. Current research indicates that some species feed on and are attracted to fungi, such as Geotrichum candidum. In the present study, as part of our continuing effort to characterize mechanisms of earthworm chemosensation, we tested whether ethyl hexanoate and ethyl pentanoate, two compounds produced by G. candidum, are appetitive to the European nightcrawler (Dendrobaena veneta). In a soil T-maze, both of these compounds significantly repelled individual earthworms in a dosage-dependent manner, this result ran counter to our initial hypothesis

SUBMITTER: Reed EMS 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC8434804 | biostudies-literature | 2021

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature