Effect of juvenile hormone on the central nervous processing of sex pheromone in an insect
- *Department of Ecology, Lund University, Ecology Building, Sölvegatan 37, S-223 62 Lund, Sweden; and †Institut National de la Recherche Agronomique, Unité de Recherches en Santé Végétale, Centre de Recherches de Bordeaux, BP 81, 33883 Villenave d’Ornon cedex, France and Laboratoire de Neuroendocrinologie des Insectes, Université Bordeaux I, Avenue des Facultés, 33405 Talence cedex, France
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Edited by Wendell Roelofs, Cornell University, Geneva, NY, and approved March 23, 1999 (received for review December 23, 1998)
Abstract
Behavioral sex pheromone responsiveness in the male moth Agrotis ipsilon was previously shown to be controlled by juvenile hormone (JH). However, this morphogenetic hormone did not change the sensitivity of antennae to sex pheromones. To analyze the possible involvement of JH in the central integration of the female-produced sex pheromone, we investigated the pheromone response of olfactory antennal lobe (AL) interneurons in male A. ipsilon as a function of age and JH status by using intracellular recordings. When the antennae were stimulated with the sex pheromone blend, the sensitivity of olfactory AL neurons increased with age, as does the JH-dependent behavioral and physiological development of A. ipsilon males. Furthermore, males surgically deprived of JH showed a significant decrease in the sensitivity of the AL neurons. JH injection in operated or in young males restored or induced, respectively, a high sensitivity of the AL neurons. JH seems likely to be involved in the plasticity of the adult insect brain by modulating the central nervous processing of olfactory information, thus allowing mate recognition and reproduction at the optimal time.
Footnotes
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↵‡ To whom reprint requests should be addressed. e-mail: Christophe.Gadenne{at}bordeaux.inra.fr.
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This paper was submitted directly (Track II) to the Proceedings Office.
ABBREVIATIONS
- AL,
- antennal lobe;
- JH,
- juvenile hormone;
- JHA,
- juvenile hormone acid
- Received December 23, 1998.
- Copyright © 1999, The National Academy of Sciences
