WILTSHIRE, United Kingdom—Scientists have discovered molecules that could confuse insects' ability to detect plants by interfering with their sense of smell, which could reduce damage to crops by insect pests and contribute to food security, according to new research from the Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC).
According to lead researcher Dr. Antony Hooper, one way in which insects find each other and their hosts is by the detection of chemical signals—pheromones, for example. Insects smell chemicals with their antennae; the chemical actually gets into the antennae of the insect and then attaches to a protein called an odorant-binding protein (OBP). This leads to the insect changing its behavior in some way in response to the smell, such as flying toward a plant or congregating with other insects.
Studying an OBP found in the silkworm moth Bombyx mori, researchers were able to look at how the OBP and a relevant pheromone interact. They also tested the interaction between OBP and other molecules that are similar to, but not the same as, the pheromone.
"As well as learning about the nature of this interaction we've actually found that there are other compounds that bind to the OBP much more strongly than the pheromone. We could potentially apply these compounds, or similar ones, in some way to block the insects' ability to detect chemical signals—the smell would be overwhelmed by the one we introduce,” Hooper said. “We'd expect the insects to be less likely to orientate themselves toward the crop plants, or find mates in this case, and therefore could reduce the damage.”
