Pub Date : 2024-05-20DOI: 10.1016/j.cois.2024.101206
Sofia Bouchebti, Eran Levin
Floral nectar, a vital nutrition source for pollinators, contains diverse chemical compounds, including γ-aminobutyric acid (GABA), a prevalent nonproteinogenic amino acid. While GABA’s physiological role is known and well-studied, its ecological significance in plant–pollinator interactions remains unclear. Recent studies on GABA’s effects on pollinators’ preference, consumption, survival, physiology, and behavior show varying outcomes according to the species, indicating a complex relationship. GABA consumption impacts motor function and cognitive abilities, potentially influencing pollination efficiency. Future research addressing diverse concentrations, species, and behavioral aspects is crucial for comprehensively understanding GABA’s ecological role in plant–pollinator interactions.
{"title":"Gamma-aminobutyric acid in flower nectar and its possible physiological and behavioral effects on insect pollinators","authors":"Sofia Bouchebti, Eran Levin","doi":"10.1016/j.cois.2024.101206","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.cois.2024.101206","url":null,"abstract":"<div><p>Floral nectar, a vital nutrition source for pollinators, contains diverse chemical compounds, including γ-aminobutyric acid (GABA), a prevalent nonproteinogenic amino acid. While GABA’s physiological role is known and well-studied, its ecological significance in plant–pollinator interactions remains unclear. Recent studies on GABA’s effects on pollinators’ preference, consumption, survival, physiology, and behavior show varying outcomes according to the species, indicating a complex relationship. GABA consumption impacts motor function and cognitive abilities, potentially influencing pollination efficiency. Future research addressing diverse concentrations, species, and behavioral aspects is crucial for comprehensively understanding GABA’s ecological role in plant–pollinator interactions.</p></div>","PeriodicalId":11038,"journal":{"name":"Current opinion in insect science","volume":"64 ","pages":"Article 101206"},"PeriodicalIF":5.3,"publicationDate":"2024-05-20","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"141080795","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"农林科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2024-05-08DOI: 10.1016/j.cois.2024.101204
Chow-Yang Lee , Michael E Scharf
{"title":"Editorial overview: Insecticide resistance mechanisms — from behavior and physiology to microbiome science","authors":"Chow-Yang Lee , Michael E Scharf","doi":"10.1016/j.cois.2024.101204","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.cois.2024.101204","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":11038,"journal":{"name":"Current opinion in insect science","volume":"63 ","pages":"Article 101204"},"PeriodicalIF":5.3,"publicationDate":"2024-05-08","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"140903607","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"农林科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2024-05-03DOI: 10.1016/j.cois.2024.101203
Carla R Polycarpo , Ana B Walter-Nuno , Leonan Azevedo-Reis , Gabriela O Paiva-Silva
Vector-borne diseases are globally prevalent and represent a major socioeconomic problem worldwide. Blood-sucking arthropods transmit most pathogenic agents that cause these human infections. The pathogens transmission to their vertebrate hosts depends on how efficiently they infect their vector, which is particularly impacted by the microbiota residing in the intestinal lumen, as well as its cells or internal organs such as ovaries. The balance between costs and benefits provided by these interactions ultimately determines the outcome of the relationship. Here, we will explore aspects concerning the nature of microbe–vector interactions, including the adaptive traits required for their establishment, the varied outcomes of symbiotic interactions, as well as the factors influencing the transition of these relationships across a continuum from parasitism to mutualism.
{"title":"The vector–symbiont affair: a relationship as (im)perfect as it can be","authors":"Carla R Polycarpo , Ana B Walter-Nuno , Leonan Azevedo-Reis , Gabriela O Paiva-Silva","doi":"10.1016/j.cois.2024.101203","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.cois.2024.101203","url":null,"abstract":"<div><p>Vector-borne diseases are globally prevalent and represent a major socioeconomic problem worldwide. Blood-sucking arthropods transmit most pathogenic agents that cause these human infections. The pathogens transmission to their vertebrate hosts depends on how efficiently they infect their vector, which is particularly impacted by the microbiota residing in the intestinal lumen, as well as its cells or internal organs such as ovaries. The balance between costs and benefits provided by these interactions ultimately determines the outcome of the relationship. Here, we will explore aspects concerning the nature of microbe–vector interactions, including the adaptive traits required for their establishment, the varied outcomes of symbiotic interactions, as well as the factors influencing the transition of these relationships across a continuum from parasitism to mutualism.</p></div>","PeriodicalId":11038,"journal":{"name":"Current opinion in insect science","volume":"63 ","pages":"Article 101203"},"PeriodicalIF":5.3,"publicationDate":"2024-05-03","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"140847701","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"农林科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2024-04-18DOI: 10.1016/j.cois.2024.101202
Lessando M Gontijo
Increasing plant diversity has become a major aspect of habitat management and natural enemy conservation. Nonetheless, the results of plant diversity studies have varied significantly within and across agroecosystems. This variation has often been ascribed to a condition known as context dependence. However, concluding plainly that results are context dependent does not allow for the understanding of the actual underlying causes. Therefore, I discuss in this paper the importance of identifying and dealing with context dependence. I specifically comment on common biotic and abiotic inherent variables that can drive context dependence. The most common context types explored herein are location, time, nonfocal plant and crop species, and natural enemy species. Finally, I offer several recommendations for identifying and dealing with context dependence. I believe understanding the different forms in which context dependence arises is paramount to reduce unexplained variation and improve the predictability of plant diversity studies.
{"title":"Addressing context dependence in studies of plant diversity to improve the understanding of natural enemy conservation","authors":"Lessando M Gontijo","doi":"10.1016/j.cois.2024.101202","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.cois.2024.101202","url":null,"abstract":"<div><p>Increasing plant diversity has become a major aspect of habitat management and natural enemy conservation. Nonetheless, the results of plant diversity studies have varied significantly within and across agroecosystems. This variation has often been ascribed to a condition known as context dependence. However, concluding plainly that results are context dependent does not allow for the understanding of the actual underlying causes. Therefore, I discuss in this paper the importance of identifying and dealing with context dependence. I specifically comment on common biotic and abiotic inherent variables that can drive context dependence. The most common context types explored herein are location, time, nonfocal plant and crop species, and natural enemy species. Finally, I offer several recommendations for identifying and dealing with context dependence. I believe understanding the different forms in which context dependence arises is paramount to reduce unexplained variation and improve the predictability of plant diversity studies.</p></div>","PeriodicalId":11038,"journal":{"name":"Current opinion in insect science","volume":"63 ","pages":"Article 101202"},"PeriodicalIF":5.3,"publicationDate":"2024-04-18","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"140766352","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"农林科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2024-04-17DOI: 10.1016/j.cois.2024.101200
Dries Amezian , Ralf Nauen , Thomas Van Leeuwen
Pesticide resistance in arthropods threatens agricultural productivity and the control of vector-borne diseases. The ATP-binding cassette (ABC) transporters have emerged as important factors in the toxicity of synthetic pesticides, as well as for Bacillus thuringiensis insecticidal Cry protein binding. Depending on the localization of expression, both higher and lower expression of ABCs have been linked with pesticide resistance. The recent development of genetic-based approaches such as RNAi and CRISPR/Cas9 gene editing in nonmodel species, has greatly contributed to unveil their functional importance in pesticide toxicity and resistance. Using these tools, we are now poised to further unravel the molecular genetic mechanisms of gene regulation uncovering more elusive regulatory resistance genes.
{"title":"The role of ATP-binding cassette transporters in arthropod pesticide toxicity and resistance","authors":"Dries Amezian , Ralf Nauen , Thomas Van Leeuwen","doi":"10.1016/j.cois.2024.101200","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.cois.2024.101200","url":null,"abstract":"<div><p>Pesticide resistance in arthropods threatens agricultural productivity and the control of vector-borne diseases. The ATP-binding cassette (ABC) transporters have emerged as important factors in the toxicity of synthetic pesticides, as well as for <em>Bacillus thuringiensis</em> insecticidal Cry protein binding. Depending on the localization of expression, both higher and lower expression of ABCs have been linked with pesticide resistance. The recent development of genetic-based approaches such as RNAi and CRISPR/Cas9 gene editing in nonmodel species, has greatly contributed to unveil their functional importance in pesticide toxicity and resistance. Using these tools, we are now poised to further unravel the molecular genetic mechanisms of gene regulation uncovering more elusive regulatory resistance genes.</p></div>","PeriodicalId":11038,"journal":{"name":"Current opinion in insect science","volume":"63 ","pages":"Article 101200"},"PeriodicalIF":5.3,"publicationDate":"2024-04-17","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"140787858","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"农林科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2024-04-10DOI: 10.1016/j.cois.2024.101201
Weiwei Liu , Qiye Li
Insects can display a vast repertoire of complex and adaptive behaviors crucial for survival and reproduction. Yet, how the neural circuits underlying insect behaviors are assembled throughout development and remodeled during evolution remains largely obscure. The advent of single-cell transcriptomics has opened new paths to illuminate these historically intractable questions. Insect behavior is governed by its brain, whose functional complexity is realized through operations across multiple levels, from the molecular and cellular to the circuit and organ. Single-cell transcriptomics enables dissecting brain functions across all these levels and allows tracking regulatory dynamics throughout development and under perturbation. In this review, we mainly focus on the achievements of single-cell transcriptomics in dissecting the molecular and cellular architectures of nervous systems in representative insects, then discuss its applications in tracking the developmental trajectory and functional evolution of insect brains.
{"title":"Single-cell transcriptomics dissecting the development and evolution of nervous system in insects","authors":"Weiwei Liu , Qiye Li","doi":"10.1016/j.cois.2024.101201","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.cois.2024.101201","url":null,"abstract":"<div><p>Insects can display a vast repertoire of complex and adaptive behaviors crucial for survival and reproduction. Yet, how the neural circuits underlying insect behaviors are assembled throughout development and remodeled during evolution remains largely obscure. The advent of single-cell transcriptomics has opened new paths to illuminate these historically intractable questions. Insect behavior is governed by its brain, whose functional complexity is realized through operations across multiple levels, from the molecular and cellular to the circuit and organ. Single-cell transcriptomics enables dissecting brain functions across all these levels and allows tracking regulatory dynamics throughout development and under perturbation. In this review, we mainly focus on the achievements of single-cell transcriptomics in dissecting the molecular and cellular architectures of nervous systems in representative insects, then discuss its applications in tracking the developmental trajectory and functional evolution of insect brains.</p></div>","PeriodicalId":11038,"journal":{"name":"Current opinion in insect science","volume":"63 ","pages":"Article 101201"},"PeriodicalIF":5.3,"publicationDate":"2024-04-10","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"140765274","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"农林科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2024-04-07DOI: 10.1016/j.cois.2024.101199
Islam S Sobhy, Colin Berry
Mosquitoes, males and females, rely on sugar-rich resources, including floral nectar as a primary source of sugar to meet their energy and nutritional needs. Despite advancements in understanding mosquito host-seeking and blood-feeding preferences, significant gaps in our knowledge of the chemical ecology mediating mosquito–nectar associations remain. The influence of such association with nectar on mosquito behavior and the resulting effects on their fitness are also not totally understood. It is significant that floral nectar frequently acts as a natural habitat for various microbes (e.g. bacteria and yeast), which substantially alter nectar characteristics, influencing the nutritional ecology of flower-visiting insects, such as mosquitoes. The role of nectar-inhabiting microbes in shaping the nectar–mosquito interactions remains, however, under-researched. This review explores recent advances in understanding the role of such multitrophic interactions on the fitness and life history traits of mosquitoes and outlines future directions for research toward their control as disease vectors.
{"title":"Chemical ecology of nectar–mosquito interactions: recent advances and future directions","authors":"Islam S Sobhy, Colin Berry","doi":"10.1016/j.cois.2024.101199","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cois.2024.101199","url":null,"abstract":"<div><p>Mosquitoes, males and females, rely on sugar-rich resources, including floral nectar as a primary source of sugar to meet their energy and nutritional needs. Despite advancements in understanding mosquito host-seeking and blood-feeding preferences, significant gaps in our knowledge of the chemical ecology mediating mosquito–nectar associations remain. The influence of such association with nectar on mosquito behavior and the resulting effects on their fitness are also not totally understood. It is significant that floral nectar frequently acts as a natural habitat for various microbes (e.g. bacteria and yeast), which substantially alter nectar characteristics, influencing the nutritional ecology of flower-visiting insects, such as mosquitoes. The role of nectar-inhabiting microbes in shaping the nectar–mosquito interactions remains, however, under-researched. This review explores recent advances in understanding the role of such multitrophic interactions on the fitness and life history traits of mosquitoes and outlines future directions for research toward their control as disease vectors.</p></div>","PeriodicalId":11038,"journal":{"name":"Current opinion in insect science","volume":"63 ","pages":"Article 101199"},"PeriodicalIF":5.3,"publicationDate":"2024-04-07","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2214574524000415/pdfft?md5=8ab45b512b99973d7c8023cca6ab0161&pid=1-s2.0-S2214574524000415-main.pdf","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"140604561","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"农林科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2024-04-06DOI: 10.1016/j.cois.2024.101198
Charlotte Helfrich-Förster
Diapause is an endocrine-mediated strategy used by insects to survive seasons of adverse environmental conditions. Insects living in temperate zones are regularly exposed to such conditions in the form of winter. To survive winter, they must prepare for it long before it arrives. A reliable indicator of impending winter is the shortening of day length. To measure day length, insects need their circadian clock as internal time reference. In this article, I provide an overview of the current state of knowledge on the neuropeptides that link the clock to the diapause inducing hormonal brain centers.
{"title":"Neuropeptidergic regulation of insect diapause by the circadian clock","authors":"Charlotte Helfrich-Förster","doi":"10.1016/j.cois.2024.101198","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cois.2024.101198","url":null,"abstract":"<div><p>Diapause is an endocrine-mediated strategy used by insects to survive seasons of adverse environmental conditions. Insects living in temperate zones are regularly exposed to such conditions in the form of winter. To survive winter, they must prepare for it long before it arrives. A reliable indicator of impending winter is the shortening of day length. To measure day length, insects need their circadian clock as internal time reference. In this article, I provide an overview of the current state of knowledge on the neuropeptides that link the clock to the diapause inducing hormonal brain centers.</p></div>","PeriodicalId":11038,"journal":{"name":"Current opinion in insect science","volume":"63 ","pages":"Article 101198"},"PeriodicalIF":5.3,"publicationDate":"2024-04-06","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2214574524000403/pdfft?md5=804da7b392a3428a71a5e2eba9ce6d79&pid=1-s2.0-S2214574524000403-main.pdf","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"140604789","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"农林科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2024-04-05DOI: 10.1016/j.cois.2024.101197
Francisco Carmona-Aldana , Luok Wen Yong , Danny Reinberg , Claude Desplan
Ant colonies are organized in castes with distinct behaviors that together allow the colony to strive. Reproduction relies on one or a few queens that stay in the nest producing eggs, while females of the worker caste do not reproduce and instead engage in colony maintenance and brood caretaking. Yet, in spite of this clear separation of functions, workers can become reproductive under defined circumstances. Here, we review the context in which workers become reproductive, exhibiting asexual or sexual reproduction depending on the species. Remarkably, the activation of reproduction in these workers can be quite stable, with changes that include behavior and a dramatic extension of lifespan. We compare these changes between species that do or do not have a queen caste. We discuss how the mechanisms underlying reproductive plasticity include changes in hormonal functions and in epigenetic configurations. Further studies are warranted to elucidate not only how reproductive functions have been gradually restricted to the queen caste during evolution but also how reproductive plasticity remains possible in workers of some species.
{"title":"Phenomenon of reproductive plasticity in ants","authors":"Francisco Carmona-Aldana , Luok Wen Yong , Danny Reinberg , Claude Desplan","doi":"10.1016/j.cois.2024.101197","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cois.2024.101197","url":null,"abstract":"<div><p>Ant colonies are organized in castes with distinct behaviors that together allow the colony to strive. Reproduction relies on one or a few queens that stay in the nest producing eggs, while females of the worker caste do not reproduce and instead engage in colony maintenance and brood caretaking. Yet, in spite of this clear separation of functions, workers can become reproductive under defined circumstances. Here, we review the context in which workers become reproductive, exhibiting asexual or sexual reproduction depending on the species. Remarkably, the activation of reproduction in these workers can be quite stable, with changes that include behavior and a dramatic extension of lifespan. We compare these changes between species that do or do not have a queen caste. We discuss how the mechanisms underlying reproductive plasticity include changes in hormonal functions and in epigenetic configurations. Further studies are warranted to elucidate not only how reproductive functions have been gradually restricted to the queen caste during evolution but also how reproductive plasticity remains possible in workers of some species.</p></div>","PeriodicalId":11038,"journal":{"name":"Current opinion in insect science","volume":"63 ","pages":"Article 101197"},"PeriodicalIF":5.3,"publicationDate":"2024-04-05","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"140604790","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"农林科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2024-03-28DOI: 10.1016/j.cois.2024.101196
Li Xu , Hong-Bo Jiang , Jie-Ling Yu , Jin-Jun Wang
Insects rely heavily on their olfactory system for various behaviors, including foraging, mating, and oviposition. Numerous studies have demonstrated that insects can adjust their olfactory behaviors in response to different physiological states and environmental conditions. This flexibility allows them to perceive and process odorants according to different conditions. The Oriental fruit fly, Bactrocera dorsalis, is a highly destructive and invasive pest causing significant economic losses to fruit and vegetable crops worldwide. The olfactory behavior of B. dorsalis exhibits strong plasticity, resulting in its successful invasion. To enhance our understanding of B. dorsalis’ olfactory behavior and explore potential strategies for behavior control, we have reviewed recent literature on its olfactory plasticity and potential molecular mechanisms.
{"title":"Plasticity of the olfactory behaviors in Bactrocera dorsalis under various physiological states and environmental conditions","authors":"Li Xu , Hong-Bo Jiang , Jie-Ling Yu , Jin-Jun Wang","doi":"10.1016/j.cois.2024.101196","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.cois.2024.101196","url":null,"abstract":"<div><p>Insects rely heavily on their olfactory system for various behaviors, including foraging, mating, and oviposition. Numerous studies have demonstrated that insects can adjust their olfactory behaviors in response to different physiological states and environmental conditions. This flexibility allows them to perceive and process odorants according to different conditions. The Oriental fruit fly, <em>Bactrocera dorsalis</em>, is a highly destructive and invasive pest causing significant economic losses to fruit and vegetable crops worldwide. The olfactory behavior of <em>B. dorsalis</em> exhibits strong plasticity, resulting in its successful invasion. To enhance our understanding of <em>B. dorsalis</em>’ olfactory behavior and explore potential strategies for behavior control, we have reviewed recent literature on its olfactory plasticity and potential molecular mechanisms.</p></div>","PeriodicalId":11038,"journal":{"name":"Current opinion in insect science","volume":"63 ","pages":"Article 101196"},"PeriodicalIF":5.3,"publicationDate":"2024-03-28","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"140329668","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"农林科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}