1. Neuroscience

Distinct protocerebral neuropils associated with attractive and aversive female-produced odorants in the male moth brain

  1. Jonas Hansen Kymre
  2. XiaoLan Liu
  3. Elena Ian
  4. Christoffer Nerland Berge
  5. GuiRong Wang
  6. Bente G Berg
  7. XinCheng Zhao  Is a corresponding author
  8. Xi Chu  Is a corresponding author
  1. Norwegian University of Science and Technology, Norway
  2. State Key Laboratory for Biology of Plant Disease and Insect Pests, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, China
  3. Institute of Plant Protection, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, China
  4. Henan Agricultural University, China
https://doi.org/10.7554/eLife.65683
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Cite this article
  1. Jonas Hansen Kymre
  2. XiaoLan Liu
  3. Elena Ian
  4. Christoffer Nerland Berge
  5. GuiRong Wang
  6. Bente G Berg
  7. XinCheng Zhao
  8. Xi Chu
(2021)
Distinct protocerebral neuropils associated with attractive and aversive female-produced odorants in the male moth brain
eLife 10:e65683.
https://doi.org/10.7554/eLife.65683
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Abstract

The pheromone system of heliothine moths is an optimal model for studying principles underlying higher-order olfactory processing. In Helicoverpa armigera, three male-specific glomeruli receive input about three female-produced signals, the primary pheromone component, serving as an attractant, and two minor constituents, serving a dual function, i.e. attraction versus inhibition of attraction. From the antennal-lobe glomeruli, the information is conveyed to higher olfactory centers, including the lateral protocerebrum, via three main paths – of which the medial tract is the most prominent. In this study, we traced physiologically identified medial-tract projection neurons from each of the three male‑specific glomeruli with the aim of mapping their terminal branches in the lateral protocerebrum. Our data suggest that the neurons’ wide-spread projections are organized according to behavioral significance, including a spatial separation of signals representing attraction versus inhibition – however, with a unique capacity of switching behavioral consequence based on the amount of the minor components.

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All data generated or analysed during this study are included in the manuscript and supporting files.

The following data sets were generated
The following previously published data sets were used

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Author details

  1. Jonas Hansen Kymre

    Department of Psychology, Norwegian University of Science and Technology, Trondheim, Norway
    Competing interests
    The authors declare that no competing interests exist.

  2. XiaoLan Liu

    Institute of Plant Protection, State Key Laboratory for Biology of Plant Disease and Insect Pests, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Beijing, China
    Competing interests
    The authors declare that no competing interests exist.

  3. Elena Ian

    Department of Psychology, Norwegian University of Science and Technology, Trondheim, Norway
    Competing interests
    The authors declare that no competing interests exist.

  4. Christoffer Nerland Berge

    Department of Psychology, Norwegian University of Science and Technology, Trondheim, Norway
    Competing interests
    The authors declare that no competing interests exist.

  5. GuiRong Wang

    State Key Laboratory for Biology of Plant Diseases and Insect Pests, Institute of Plant Protection, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Beijing, China
    Competing interests
    The authors declare that no competing interests exist.

  6. Bente G Berg

    Department of Psychology, Chemosensory lab, Norwegian University of Science and Technology, Trondheim, Norway
    Competing interests
    The authors declare that no competing interests exist.

  7. XinCheng Zhao

    Department of Entomology, Henan Agricultural University, Zhengzhou, China
    For correspondence
    xincheng@henau.edu.cn
    Competing interests
    The authors declare that no competing interests exist.
    ORCID icon "This ORCID iD identifies the author of this article:" 0000-0002-9471-2222

  8. Xi Chu

    Department of Psychology, Norwegian University of Science and Technology, Trondheim, Norway
    For correspondence
    xi.chu@ntnu.no
    Competing interests
    The authors declare that no competing interests exist.
    ORCID icon "This ORCID iD identifies the author of this article:" 0000-0002-0889-6345

Funding

Norges Forskningsråd (287052)

  • Bente G Berg

National Natural Science Foundation of China (31861133019)

  • GuiRong Wang

Science and technology innovation talents in University of Henan province (19HASTIT011)

  • XinCheng Zhao

The funders had no role in study design, data collection and interpretation, or the decision to submit the work for publication.

Ethics

Animal experimentation: According to Norwegian law of animal welfare, there are no restrictions regarding experimental use of Lepidoptera.

Copyright

© 2021, Kymre et al.

This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License permitting unrestricted use and redistribution provided that the original author and source are credited.

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  1. Jonas Hansen Kymre
  2. XiaoLan Liu
  3. Elena Ian
  4. Christoffer Nerland Berge
  5. GuiRong Wang
  6. Bente G Berg
  7. XinCheng Zhao
  8. Xi Chu
(2021)
Distinct protocerebral neuropils associated with attractive and aversive female-produced odorants in the male moth brain
eLife 10:e65683.
https://doi.org/10.7554/eLife.65683

Share this article

https://doi.org/10.7554/eLife.65683

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