Maturation of odor representation in the honeybee antennal lobe

The antennal lobe (AL) is the first center for processing odors in the insect brain, as is the olfactory bulb (OB) in vertebrates. Both the AL and the OB have a characteristic glomerular structure; odors sensed by olfactory receptor neurons are represented by patterns of glomerular activity. Little is known about when and how an odor begins to be perceived in a developing brain. We address this question by using calcium imaging to monitor odor-evoked neural activity in the ALs of bees of different ages. We find that odor-evoked neural activity already occurs in the ALs of bees as young as 1 or 2 days. In young bees, the responses to odors are relatively weak and restricted to a small number of glomeruli. However, different odors already evoke responses in different combinations of glomeruli. In mature bees, the responses are stronger and are evident in more glomeruli, but continue to have distinct odor-dependent signatures. Our findings indicate that the specific glomerular patterns for odors are conserved during the development, and that odor representations are fully developed in the AL during the first 2 weeks following emergence.     

Chemical communication in heliothine moths

The chemical and temporal features of the sex-pheromone emitted by Heliothis virescens females are encoded by a diverse array of output pathways from the male-specific macroglomerular complex (MGC) in the antennal lobe. Most output neurons (29 out of 32) were activated by antennal stimulation with the principal component of the sex-pheromone blend of this species, (Z)-11-hexadecenal. Six neurons were excited solely by this component, 8 neurons also responded to the second essential blend component, (Z)-9-tetradecenal, and 14 neurons displayed equivalent responses to the two. Many neurons also effectively encoded the onset and duration of the stimulus. In one additional neuron, a prolonged excitatory response (synergism) was evoked only by the blend of the two components, indicating that some MGC neurons function as blend detectors.In contrast to the situation in Helicoverpa zea, none of the MGC neurons in H. virescens responded selectively to (Z)-9-tetradecenal, suggesting that these two noctuid species employ different neural strategies to encode information about their respective pheromone blends.Three MGC-output neurons responded selectively to (Z)-11-hexadecenyl acetate, an odorant released by some sympatric species that disrupts normal upwind flight to pheromones. Thus, changes in the attractant and deterrent chemical signals, as well as the physical features of these odor plumes, are encoded in the MGC across a diverse parallel array of output pathways to the protocerebrum.Abbreviations AL antennal lobe - AN antennal nerve - 16:AL hexadecanal - MGC macroglomerular complex - 14:AL tetradecanal - Z11-16:AL (Z) 11-hexadecenal - Z11-16:AC (Z) 11-hexadecenyl acetate - Z9-14:AL (Z) 9-tetradecenal - Z9-14:FO (Z) 9-tetradecenyl formate     

杜松挥发油化学成分与资源利用研究

杜松挥发油的化学成分,采用所相色谱曲法,分离出４８个组分,鉴定了１９个化合物。它们是：α－蒎烯、β蒎烯、月桂烯、α－水芹烯、棕檬烯＋β－水芹烯、异松油烯、龙脑、４－松油醇、α－蛇麻烯、倍半萜烯、大牛儿烯－Ｄ、丁香香叶酯、表－２－甜没药醇、反,反－金合欢醇、反－顺－金合欢醇。为杜松植物资源的开发利用提供科学依据。     

云南引种的玫瑰天竺葵精油主要化学成份分析

玫瑰天竺葵从摩洛哥引入云南已试种成功,并开始大面积推广。其各生长期精油分析结果表明,随月份的推移,香叶醇含量下降。其香气特征与云南产香叶天竺葵(Pelargonium graveolens)精油不同,更接近印度波尔蓬香叶油的香气。     

Patch colonization by Trirhabda canadensis (Coleoptera: Chrysomelidae): effects of plant species composition and wind

Summary The goldenrod leaf beetle, Trirhabda canadensis, is known to respond to odors of host and non-host species in the laboratory. Here we report movements of T. canadensis in the field in response to volatile odors from monocultures and polycultures of host plants. Overall, beetles preferentially colonized plots with a higher density of host plants and lower diversity of allelochemicals, but under some wind conditions there were marked exceptions. At high windspeeds, they colonized whichever plot(s) was upwind. At low windspeeds, beetles colonized preferred plots even when they were not upwind. The data suggest that odor dispersion varies in a complex way with windspeed: at low windspeeds beetles received information from a wide are of vegetation and made choices while at high windspeeds information was available only from upwind plot(s).     

An olfactory stimulus modifies nighttime sleep in young men and women

Aromatherapy is an anecdotal method for modifying sleep and mood. However, whether olfactory exposure to essential oils affects night-time objective sleep remains untested. Previous studies also demonstrate superior olfactory abilities in women. Therefore, this study investigated the effects of an olfactory stimulus on subsequent sleep and assessed gender differences in such effects. Thirty-one young healthy sleepers (16 men and 15 women, aged 18 to 30 yr, mean±SD, 20.5±2.4 yr) completed 3 consecutive overnight sessions in a sleep laboratory: one adaptation, one stimulus, and one control night (the latter 2 nights in counterbalanced order). Subjects received an intermittent presentation (first 2 min of each 10 min interval) of an olfactory (lavender oil) or a control (distilled water) stimulus between 23:10 and 23:40 h. Standard polysomnographic sleep and self-rated sleepiness and mood data were collected. Lavender increased the percentage of deep or slow-wave sleep (SWS) in men and women. All subjects reported higher vigor the morning after lavender exposure, corroborating the restorative SWS increase. Lavender also increased stage 2 (light) sleep, and decreased rapid-eye movement (REM) sleep and the amount of time to reach wake after first falling asleep (wake after sleep onset latency) in women, with opposite effects in men. Thus, lavender serves as a mild sedative and has practical applications as a novel, nonphotic method for promoting deep sleep in young men and women and for producing gender-dependent sleep effects.     

Coding of blend ratios of binary mixtures by olfactory neurons in the Florida spiny lobster, Panulirus argus

The aim of this study was to investigate quality coding of blend ratios of binary mixtures by olfactory receptor cells in the spiny lobster. Three odorants (adenosine-5′-monophosphate, l-glutamate, and taurine) at 0.1–100 μmol · l⁻¹ and seven blend ratios of each of their binary mixtures at a total concentration of 100 μmol · l⁻¹ were used. The olfactory cells recorded (n = 48) evoked across-neuron patterns for single odorants that were well separated from each other. Across-neuron patterns varied with stimulus concentration but less than with stimulus type. Blend ratios of the three mixtures evoked across-neuron patterns that were orderly placed within a continuum between those elicited by the components. Mixture interactions, defined as a lack of independent effects by a mixture's components, occurred in 25, 24 and 37% of responses to blend ratios of glutamate/taurine, adenosine-5′-monophosphate/taurine, and glutamate/adenosine-5′-monophosphate, respectively. These mixture interactions did not have a large enough effect on the across-neuron patterns for the mixtures such they would be novel relative to those of the single components. These results suggest that despite mixture interactions the quality of individual compounds is not lost when mixed. This corroborates behavioral studies showing that spiny lobsters have the ability to elementally process odor mixtures. Accepted: 23 August 1996     

Development of a second-generation environmentally superior technology for treatment of swine manure in the USA

New swine waste management systems in North Carolina need to meet high performance standards of an environmentally superior technology (EST) regarding nitrogen, phosphorus, heavy metals, pathogens, ammonia and odor emissions, and remain affordable and simple to operate. The objective of this study was to develop a second-generation treatment system that can achieve high EST standards at reduced costs. The system used solids separation, nitrification/denitrification and phosphorus removal/disinfection, and was demonstrated at full-scale on a 5145-head swine farm during three production cycles (15-months). Removal efficiencies were: 98% suspended solids, 97% ammonia, 95% phosphorus, 99% copper and zinc, 99.9% odors, and 99.99% pathogens. The system met EST standards at 1/3 the cost of the previous version. Animal health and productivity were enhanced; hog sales increased 32,900 kg/cycle (5.6%). These results demonstrated that: (1) significant cost reductions were achieved by on-farm implementation and continued engineering improvements, and (2) the new waste management system substantially benefited livestock productivity.     

Marine fragrance chemistry

The main marine message in perfumery is projected by Calone 1951 (7-methyl-2H-1,5-benzodioxepin-3(4H)-one). Kraft (Givaudan) and Gaudin (Firmenich) further maximized the marine fragrance molecular membership by extending the carbon chain of the 7-Me group. Our research targeted the polar group of the benzodioxepinone parent compound to investigate how this region of molecular makeup resonates with the dominant marine fragrance of the Calone 1951 structure. The olfactory evaluation of analogues prepared by chemical modification or removal of the CO group resulted in the introduction of aldehydic, sweet and floral-fruity notes with a diluted/diminished potency of the marine odor. To further analyze the olfactory properties of benzodioxepinones containing a diverse range of aromatic ring substituents, a novel synthesis route was developed. We found that a 7-alkyl group in Calone 1951 was essential for the maintenance of the significant marine odor characteristic, and our studies support the concept that the odorant structure occupying the hydrophobic binding pocket adjacent to the aromatic ring-binding site of the olfactory receptor is pivotal in the design and discovery of more potent and characteristic marine fragrances. How the structure of benzodioxepinones connects to marine sea-breeze fragrances is our continuing challenging research focus at the chemistry-biology interface.     

棕色田鼠探究行为对同种个体气味源反应格局的分析

通过观察非动情期的棕色田鼠对麻醉的同种个体身体气味源的探究行为 ,包括雄鼠对麻醉雄鼠和雌鼠的嗅闻、雌鼠对麻醉雄鼠和雌鼠的嗅闻 ,分析了棕色田鼠在社会探究中对不同气味源的反应格局。结果表明 ,棕色田鼠对同种个体肛殖区和面部的嗅闻频次及嗅闻持续时间最多 (P <0 0 5 ) ;对背部、腹部、肋部嗅闻的频次和持续时间较少。在对同一部位的嗅闻中 ,在嗅闻频次上 ,雄鼠对雄鼠的嗅闻、雌鼠对雌鼠的嗅闻以及雌鼠对雄鼠的嗅闻都显著多于雄鼠对雌鼠的嗅闻 (P <0 0 5 ) ;在嗅闻时间上 ,性别组合对同一部位的探究行为没有显著影响 ,但气味源与性别组合有交互作用 (P <0 0 5 ) ,影响探究行为。这些结果说明棕色田鼠的肛殖区和面部是重要的气味源 ,而且在对同一气味源的探究中存在性别差异。但在非动情期 ,异性间的探究并不总是高于同性间的探究