chemical communication
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2021 ◽  
Vol 8 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lauric Feugere ◽  
Lauren Angell ◽  
James Fagents ◽  
Rebecca Nightingale ◽  
Kirsty Rowland ◽  
...  

Studies on pH stress in marine animals typically focus on direct or species-specific aspects. We here test the hypothesis that a drop to pH = 7.6 indirectly affects the intra- and interspecific interactions of benthic invertebrates by means of chemical communication. We recorded fitness-relevant behaviours of small hermit crabs Diogenes pugilator, green shore crabs Carcinus maenas, and harbour ragworms Hediste diversicolor in response to short-term pH drop, and to putative stress metabolites released by conspecifics or gilt-head sea bream Sparus aurata during 30 min of acute pH drop. Not only did acute pH drop itself impair time to find a food cue in small hermit crabs and burrowing in harbour ragworms, but similar effects were observed under exposure to pH drop-induced stress metabolites. Stress metabolites from S. aurata, but not its regular control metabolites, also induced avoidance responses in all recipient species. Here, we confirm that a short-term abrupt pH drop, an abiotic stressor, has the capacity to trigger the release of metabolites which induce behavioural responses in conspecific and heterospecific individuals, which can be interpreted as a behavioural cost. Our findings that stress responses can be indirectly propagated through means of chemical communication warrant further research to confirm the effect size of the behavioural impairments caused by stress metabolites and to characterise their chemical nature.


2021 ◽  
Vol 4 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Vincent Mukwaya ◽  
Stephen Mann ◽  
Hongjing Dou

AbstractAlthough the complexity of synthetic cells has continued to increase in recent years, chemical communication between protocell models and living organisms remains a key challenge in bottom-up synthetic biology and bioengineering. In this Review, we discuss how communication channels and modes of signal processing can be established between living cells and cytomimetic agents such as giant unilamellar lipid vesicles, proteinosomes, polysaccharidosomes, polymer-based giant vesicles and membrane-less coacervate micro-droplets. We describe three potential modes of chemical communication in consortia of synthetic and living cells based on mechanisms of distributed communication and signal processing, physical embodiment and nested communication, and network-based contact-dependent communication. We survey the potential for applying synthetic cell/living cell communication systems in biomedicine, including the in situ production of therapeutics and development of new bioreactors. Finally, we present a short summary of our findings.


mBio ◽  
2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Matthew Jemielita ◽  
Ameya A. Mashruwala ◽  
Julie S. Valastyan ◽  
Ned S. Wingreen ◽  
Bonnie L. Bassler

Bacteria can work as collectives to form multicellular communities. Vibrio cholerae , the bacterium that causes the disease cholera in humans, forms aggregated communities in liquid. Aggregate formation relies on a chemical communication process called quorum sensing.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
◽  
Fabian Westermann

<p>The success of invasive species in their introduced range is often influenced by interactions with resident species communities. Chemical communication is one the factors which contributes to a variety of aspects of a species life cycle, ranging from mating, to food localization and interactions with members of the same and other species. In my thesis, I investigate the effects of venoms and semiochemicals on interactions between the invasive Argentine ant (Linepethima humile) with other resident ant species and demonstrate how pheromones can potentially be utilized as an area wide control mechanism of this species, by disrupting their foraging success.  I studied the effects of venom composition, their toxicity and utilization on the outcome of aggressive interactions between the Argentine ant and the four Monomorium species in New Zealand occurring. The toxicity of the venom of the two species co-occurring with Argentine ants was significantly higher than the toxicity of the species which do not. However, no correlation between venom toxicity and Monomorium survival was found. For M. antipodum a significant relationship between venom utilization and its mortality was found, indicating that the way venom is used might be an important aspect of these interactions. Physical Aggression between Monomorium and Argentine ants also had strong effects on Monomorium worker mortality, which provided evidence that a variety of factors and strategies contribute to the ability of interacting organisms to withstand the pressure of a dominant invader at high abundance.  I conducted bioassays with food sources and synthetic trail pheromones, providing a proof of concept on disrupting the foraging ability of Argentine ants. Other resident species benefited from the reduced success of Argentine ants, but to a varying degree. Behavioural variations between the resident species provided an explanation for observed differences in foraging success and how much each of these individual competitors was able to increase their foraging. The mechanism for the observed increase in resource acquisition of resident species appeared to be a decrease in aggressive behaviour displayed by Argentine ants.  I expanded the usage of the synthetic pheromone to a commercial vineyard, were Argentine ants can have negative effects on crop development by dispersing and tending to homopteran pest species. Argentine ants’ access to the crop canopy could be significantly reduced by placing pheromone dispensers at the base of the vine plant, while dispensers in the plant canopy had little effect on Argentine ant numbers. Doubling the amount of pheromone did not result in an additional reduction of ant activity.   Lastly incorporating the knowledge gained in the previous chapter, I extended the application of the pheromone to a large field trial over a three month period. Argentine ant activity and foraging success was significantly supressed compared to untreated control plots, providing evidence that this form of large scale application might be a possible way to control large invasive ant populations by disrupting their trail following and foraging behaviour for a prolonged period of time. While initial calculations have suggested that the treatment is currently not feasible (13.3 US$/mg/ha), I found a significant reduction in body fat in workers collected from treated plots compared with untreated plots, suggesting adverse effects on nest fitness.  My findings provide new insights into chemical communication between invasive and resident species, support existing dominance hierarchy models in ant populations, and help to establish a target specific potential management technique of wide-spread invasive ant species.</p>


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
◽  
Fabian Westermann

<p>The success of invasive species in their introduced range is often influenced by interactions with resident species communities. Chemical communication is one the factors which contributes to a variety of aspects of a species life cycle, ranging from mating, to food localization and interactions with members of the same and other species. In my thesis, I investigate the effects of venoms and semiochemicals on interactions between the invasive Argentine ant (Linepethima humile) with other resident ant species and demonstrate how pheromones can potentially be utilized as an area wide control mechanism of this species, by disrupting their foraging success.  I studied the effects of venom composition, their toxicity and utilization on the outcome of aggressive interactions between the Argentine ant and the four Monomorium species in New Zealand occurring. The toxicity of the venom of the two species co-occurring with Argentine ants was significantly higher than the toxicity of the species which do not. However, no correlation between venom toxicity and Monomorium survival was found. For M. antipodum a significant relationship between venom utilization and its mortality was found, indicating that the way venom is used might be an important aspect of these interactions. Physical Aggression between Monomorium and Argentine ants also had strong effects on Monomorium worker mortality, which provided evidence that a variety of factors and strategies contribute to the ability of interacting organisms to withstand the pressure of a dominant invader at high abundance.  I conducted bioassays with food sources and synthetic trail pheromones, providing a proof of concept on disrupting the foraging ability of Argentine ants. Other resident species benefited from the reduced success of Argentine ants, but to a varying degree. Behavioural variations between the resident species provided an explanation for observed differences in foraging success and how much each of these individual competitors was able to increase their foraging. The mechanism for the observed increase in resource acquisition of resident species appeared to be a decrease in aggressive behaviour displayed by Argentine ants.  I expanded the usage of the synthetic pheromone to a commercial vineyard, were Argentine ants can have negative effects on crop development by dispersing and tending to homopteran pest species. Argentine ants’ access to the crop canopy could be significantly reduced by placing pheromone dispensers at the base of the vine plant, while dispensers in the plant canopy had little effect on Argentine ant numbers. Doubling the amount of pheromone did not result in an additional reduction of ant activity.   Lastly incorporating the knowledge gained in the previous chapter, I extended the application of the pheromone to a large field trial over a three month period. Argentine ant activity and foraging success was significantly supressed compared to untreated control plots, providing evidence that this form of large scale application might be a possible way to control large invasive ant populations by disrupting their trail following and foraging behaviour for a prolonged period of time. While initial calculations have suggested that the treatment is currently not feasible (13.3 US$/mg/ha), I found a significant reduction in body fat in workers collected from treated plots compared with untreated plots, suggesting adverse effects on nest fitness.  My findings provide new insights into chemical communication between invasive and resident species, support existing dominance hierarchy models in ant populations, and help to establish a target specific potential management technique of wide-spread invasive ant species.</p>


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Guaraci Cordeiro ◽  
Stefan Dötterl

Abstract Global warming is expected to have a great impact on floral scents and consequently, on the attraction of pollinators. While there is evidence that temperature affects the biosynthesis and emission of floral scents, the effects on chemically mediated pollinator behavior have not been assessed. Here, we show by chemical analytical, electrophysiological, and behavioral approaches that increased air temperatures affect the chemical communication between strawberry (Fragaria x ananassa) and its bee pollinators (Apis mellifera, Bombus terrestris, Osmia bicornis). Plants cultivated at increased temperatures released smaller amounts and a different composition of floral scent than plants cultivated at physiological optimum temperatures, which translated into a reduced attractiveness to pollinators. Our study highlights for the first time that increased temperatures negatively affect the chemical communication between plants and their pollinators. This raises important ecological and agricultural questions, as impaired communication between plants and their pollinators might result in insufficient pollination with negative consequences for ecosystem functioning and crop yields.


2021 ◽  
Vol 17 (11) ◽  
Author(s):  
Michelle Beyer ◽  
Julia Mangliers ◽  
Cristina Tuni

Chemical communication is important in a reproductive context for conveying information used for mate recognition and/or assessment during courtship and mating. Spider silk is a common vehicle for chemical communication between the sexes. However, despite being well described in females, male silk-borne chemicals remain largely unexplored. Males of the spider Pisaura mirabilis silk-wrap prey (i.e. nuptial gifts) that is offered to females during courtship and eaten by the female during mating. Interestingly, rejected males often add more silk to their gift which leads to successful mating, suggesting the presence of silk-borne chemicals that facilitate female gift acceptance. To test this hypothesis, we offered females standardized gifts covered with male silk that was either washed in solvents or unwashed, respectively, to remove or not any chemically active components. We scored female gift acceptance, and as expected in the case chemicals that mediate female mating behaviour are present in male silk, females were more likely to accept gifts covered with unwashed silk. Our findings suggest that silk-borne chemicals of nuptial gifts prime female responses, potentially signalling male quality or manipulating females into mating beyond their interests given the occurrence of male cheating behaviour via nutritionally worthless gifts in this system.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Islam Maged Khattab ◽  
Jochen Fischer ◽  
Andrzej Kaźmierczak ◽  
Eckhard Thines ◽  
Peter Nick

Apoplectic breakdown from Grapevines Trunk Diseases (GTDs) has become a serious challenge to viticulture in consequence to drought stress. We hypothesise that fungal aggressiveness is controlled by a chemical communication between host and colonising fungus. We introduce the new concept of a "plant surrender signal" accumulating in host plants under stress and triggering aggressive behaviour of the strain Neofusicoccum parvum (Bt-67) causing Botryosphaeriaceae-related dieback in grapevines. Using a cell-based experimental system (Vitis cells) and bioactivity-guided fractionation, we identify trans-ferulic acid, a monolignol precursor, as "surrender signal". We show that this signal specifically activates secretion of the fungal phytotoxin Fusicoccin A. We show further that this phytotoxin, mediated by 14-3-3 proteins, activates programmed cell death in Vitis cells. We arrive at a model pinpointing the chemical communication driving apoplexy in Botryosphaeriaceae-Vitis interaction and define the channelling of phenylpropanoid pathway from the lignin precursor, trans-ferulic acid to the phytoalexin trans-resveratrol as target for future therapy.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Pengjuan Zu ◽  
Reinaldo García-García ◽  
Meredith Schuman ◽  
Serguei Saavedra ◽  
Carlos J. Melián

AbstractCross-species communication, where signals are sent by one species and perceived by others, is one of the most intriguing types of communication that functionally links different species to form complex ecological networks. Yet, global changes and human activities can affect communication by increasing the fluctuations of species composition and phenology, altering signal profiles and intensity, and introducing noises. So far, most studies on cross-species communication have focused on a few specific species isolated from ecological communities. Scaling up investigations of cross-species communication to the community level is currently hampered by a lack of conceptual and practical methodologies. Here, we propose an interdisciplinary framework based on information theory to investigate mechanisms shaping cross-species communication at the community level. We use plants and insects, the cornerstones of most ecosystems, as a showcase; and focus on chemical communication as the key communication channel. We first introduce some basic concepts of information theory, then we illustrate information patterns in plant-insect chemical communication, followed by a further exploration of how to integrate information theory into ecological and evolutionary processes to form testable mechanistic hypotheses. We conclude by highlighting the importance of community-level information as a vehicle to better understand the maintenance of ecological systems, especially when facing rapid global changes.


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