2012 Program (PDF) - International Society of Chemical Ecology

Tuesday 24th July, 15:30– 15:45 hIdentification of a new aggregation pheromone component of the Moroccanlocust Dociostaurus maroccanusGUERRERO A 1 , FURSTENAU B 1 , MUÑOZ L 1 , COCA-ABIA M 2 , ROSELL G 3 , QUERO C 11Department of Biological Chemistry and Molecular Modelling, IQAC (CSIC), Barcelona,SPAIN2Centro de Investigación y Tecnología Agroalimentaria, Departamento de Industria eInnovación (DGA), Unidad de Sanidad Vegetal, Zaragoza, SPAIN3Department of Pharmacology and Therapeutic Chemistry, Unity Associated to CSIC,Faculty of Pharmacy, University of Barcelona, Barcelona, SPAINangel.guerrero@iqac.csic.esGregarious locusts are mass migrating insects that produce great economic losses inagriculture representing a serious threat to the livelihood of a tenth of the world population.Control of these pests against outbreaks and plagues have been relied solely uponapplication of sprays of conventional pesticides. However, these treatments have been highlycontroversial for environmental, human safety and economic reasons and therefore, newalternative, environmentally-friendly strategies for locust control are urgently needed.The Moroccan locust, Dociostaurus maroccanus (Orthoptera: Acrididae), is a polyphagouspest of crops and pastures, particularly in Southern Europe, North Africa and the MiddleEast, but devastating outbreaks have also been noticed in Iran, Afghanistan and adjacentcountries of the former USSR. As other locust species, if environmental and climaticconditions are favorable, the Moroccan locust can shift from a solitary to a gregarious phase,increasing dramatically in number and leading to the formation of large, landscape-devouringswarms. We have found that phytal, a novel natural product, promotes aggregation in theMoroccan locust. Both isomers of phytal are produced by sexually mature adult males, elicitelectroantennographic responses and induce aggregation behaviour in adults of both sexesin laboratory bioassays. Phytal is mainly produced in male legs and is biosynthesized by anoxidative process in the gut after insect feeding on phytol-containing food. Phytol is aditerpene alcohol present in the chlorophyll structure of all plants. Our results point out thatphytal may play an important role in several biological functions of the Moroccan locust.94