Title

Pharmacological analysis of feeding in a caterpillar: different transduction pathways for umami and saccharin?

Abstract

Neonate larvae of codling moth, Cydia pomonella (L.), modify their behavior in the presence of saccharin, monosodium glutamate (MSG), or L(+)-2-amino-4-phosphonobutyric acid (L-AP4) by commencing their feeding earlier. Previously published pharmacological analysis demonstrated that phagostimulatory effects of MSG and L-AP4 (which elicit umami taste sensation in humans) are reversed by adenylate cyclase activator and phosphodiesterase inhibitor. In this study, by measuring the time needed to start ingestion of foliage treated with mixtures of phagostimulants and signal transduction modulators, we show that phagostimulatory effects of l-aspartate (the third hallmark umami substance) are also abolished by both adenylate cyclase activator and phosphodiesterase inhibitor, but not by phospholipase C inhibitor. However, stimulatory effects of hemicalcium saccharin were affected only by phospholipase C inhibitor. The results suggest that codling moth neonates use different transduction pathways for perception of hemicalcium saccharin and umami.

Department(s)

Environmental Plant Science and Natural Resources

Document Type

Article

DOI

https://doi.org/10.1007/s00114-008-0505-6

Keywords

codling moth, cydia pomonella, taste, chemoreception, signal transduction, feeding, phagostimulants

Publication Date

2009

Journal Title

Naturwissenschaften

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