| Title: | Sensory biology. Flower discrimination by pollinators in a dynamic chemical environment |
| Author(s): | Riffell JA; Shlizerman E; Sanders E; Abrell L; Medina B; Hinterwirth AJ; Kutz JN; |
| Address: | "Department of Biology, University of Washington, Seattle, WA 98195-1800, USA. jriffell@u.washington.edu. Department of Applied Mathematics, University of Washington, Seattle, WA 98195-3925, USA. Department of Biology, University of Washington, Seattle, WA 98195-1800, USA. Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry and Department of Soil, Water, and Environmental Science, University of Arizona, AZ 85721-0077, USA" |
| ISSN/ISBN: | 1095-9203 (Electronic) 0036-8075 (Linking) |
| Abstract: | "Pollinators use their sense of smell to locate flowers from long distances, but little is known about how they are able to discriminate their target odor from a melange of other natural and anthropogenic odors. Here, we measured the plume from Datura wrightii flowers, a nectar resource for Manduca sexta moths, and show that the scent was dynamic and rapidly embedded among background odors. The moth's ability to track the odor was dependent on the background and odor frequency. By influencing the balance of excitation and inhibition in the antennal lobe, background odors altered the neuronal representation of the target odor and the ability of the moth to track the plume. These results show that the mix of odors present in the environment influences the pollinator's olfactory ability" |
| Keywords: | "Animals Arthropod Antennae/innervation/physiology Behavior, Animal Brain/physiology Datura/*physiology Electrophysiological Phenomena Feeding Behavior Flight, Animal Flowers/*physiology Interneurons/physiology Male Manduca/*physiology Neural Inhibition Ne;" |
| Notes: | "MedlineRiffell, Jeffrey A Shlizerman, Eli Sanders, Elischa Abrell, Leif Medina, Billie Hinterwirth, Armin J Kutz, J Nathan eng Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't 2014/06/28 Science. 2014 Jun 27; 344(6191):1515-8. doi: 10.1126/science.1251041" |
