Hawkmoths evaluate scenting flowers with the tip of their proboscis
Hawkmoths evaluate scenting flowers with the tip of their proboscis
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DOI：
10.7554/elife.15039
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发表时间：
2016-05-05
期刊：
影响因子：
7.7
通讯作者：
Kessler, Danny
中科院分区：
文献类型：
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作者：
Haverkamp, Alexander;Yon, Felipe;Kessler, Danny
昆虫授粉对许多生态系统来说都是必不可少的。此前，我们已经证明花香在植物之间的花粉转移中是重要的(Kessler et at，2015)。然而，传粉者评估单花挥发物的机制仍不清楚。在这里，花的挥发物已经被基因沉默的烟草植株和它的天蛾传粉者Manduca sexta，被用于半自然帐篷和风洞试验，以探索花香的功能。我们发现，花香不仅通过增加可探测性，而且通过加强传粉者的觅食努力来增加个体花的适合性。结合鼻子选择测试与神经生理学、解剖学和分子分析，我们表明这种效应是由新发现的蛾鼻子尖端的嗅觉神经元控制的。传粉者用舌尖评估单个花朵的广告，这是维持这一重要生态系统服务的关键能力。
Pollination by insects is essential to many ecosystems. Previously, we have shown that floral scent is important to mediate pollen transfer between plants (Kessler et at, 2015). Yet, the mechanisms by which pollinators evaluate volatiles of single flowers remained unclear. Here, Nicotiana attenuata plants, in which floral volatiles have been genetically silenced and its hawkmoth pollinator, Manduca sexta, were used in semi-natural tent and wind-tunnel assays to explore the function of floral scent. We found that floral scent functions to increase the fitness of individual flowers not only by increasing detectability but also by enhancing the pollinator's foraging efforts. Combining proboscis choice tests with neurophysiological, anatomical and molecular analyses we show that this effect is governed by newly discovered olfactory neurons on the tip of the moth's proboscis. With the tip of their tongue, pollinators assess the advertisement of individual flowers, an ability essential for maintaining this important ecosystem service.