Preferences of the peripheral olfactory system of Western Flower Thrips, Frankliniella occidentalis towards stereoisomers of common plant volatiles

Stereochemistry plays a significant role in structure–activity relationships of messenger chemicals. The ability to distinguish between enantiomers and geometric isomers, however, may be limited to certain stereoisomeric substances, depending on the receiver. In this study, we assessed the preference of the peripheral olfactometry system of Western Flower Thrips, F. occidentalis towards ubiquitously expressed host compounds, with a goal of establishing whether particular stereoisomers enhance host odour recognition. We demonstrate that the peripheral olfactory system of a highly polyphagous thysanopteran insect has evolved to become highly sensitive to a type of green leaf volatile, which is highly ubiquitous in the plant kingdom. We show that there is a significantly greater antennal response to the cis isomer, more so than the isomerisation by-product trans-3-hexen-1-ol. We demonstrate that the antennae of a highly polyphagous insect are capable of detecting common plant secondary metabolites in both enantiomeric forms. ELECTRONIC SUPPLEMENTARY MATERIAL: The online version of this article (doi:10.1007/s00049-014-0173-2) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.