Journal of Chemical Ecology (2007) 33, 909-921

Charles E. Linn Jr., Michael J. Domingue, Callie J. Musto, Thomas C. Baker and Wendell L. Roelofs (2007)
Support for ( Z )-11-hexadecanal as a pheromone antagonist in Ostrinia nubilalis : Flight tunnel and single sensillum studies with a New York population
Journal of Chemical Ecology 33 (5), 909-921
Abstract: The flight-tunnel response of male Z-strain European corn borer moths (ECB), Ostrinia nubilalis, from a population in New York State (USA), was significantly antagonized by addition of 1% (Z)-11-hexadecanal (Z11-16:Ald) to their sex pheromone (a 97:3 mix of (Z)- and (E)-11-tetradecenyl acetate [Z/E11-14:OAc]). The level of antagonism was equivalent to that observed for the previously identified ECB antagonist, (Z)-9-tetradecenyl acetate (Z9-14:OAc), and supports a recent report showing that Z11-16:Ald, a minor pheromone component of the Noctuid moth, Sesamia nonagrioides, caused antagonism of ECB pheromone communication in sympatric populations in the Iberian Peninsula. Single-sensillum recordings from ECB antennae, which included cross-adaptation experiments, showed that the same olfactory receptor neuron processing Z9-14:OAc inputs was responsible for detecting Z11-16:Ald, and that this neuron was not responsive to two other aldehydes, (Z)-9-tetradecanal (Z9-14:Ald) and (Z)-9-hexadecanal (Z9-16:Ald), found in other moth sex pheromones. Our results show that the antagonism is not confined to one geographic region, is specific for Z11-16:Ald, and that antagonist pathways might have the potential for processing a number of structurally similar compounds.
(The abstract is excluded from the Creative Commons licence and has been copied with permission by the publisher.)
Link to article at publishers website
Database assignments for author(s): Charles Linn, Michael J. Domingue

Research topic(s) for pests/diseases/weeds:
pheromones/attractants/traps

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Pest and/or beneficial records:

Beneficial	Pest/Disease/Weed	Crop/Product	Country	Quarant.
	Ostrinia nubilalis		U.S.A. (NE)
	Sesamia nonagrioides