Friday, February 3, 2023
SCIENMAG: Latest Science and Health News
No Result
View All Result
  • Login
  • HOME PAGE
  • BIOLOGY
  • CHEMISTRY AND PHYSICS
  • MEDICINE
    • Cancer
    • Infectious Emerging Diseases
  • SPACE
  • TECHNOLOGY
  • CONTACT US
  • HOME PAGE
  • BIOLOGY
  • CHEMISTRY AND PHYSICS
  • MEDICINE
    • Cancer
    • Infectious Emerging Diseases
  • SPACE
  • TECHNOLOGY
  • CONTACT US
No Result
View All Result
Scienmag - Latest science news from science magazine
No Result
View All Result
Home SCIENCE NEWS Chemistry AND Physics

New pheromone insight may help predict mountain pine beetle outbreaks

March 19, 2018
in Chemistry AND Physics
0
Share on FacebookShare on Twitter
IMAGE

Credit: Christine Chiu

Researchers at the University of British Columbia have shed new light on how mountain pine beetles produce an important pheromone called trans-verbenol, which could aid in efforts to better predict outbreaks.

In recent years, mountain pine beetles have destroyed more than 25 million hectares of pine forests in western North America. In a study published today in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, scientists have uncovered previously unknown reservoirs of trans-verbenol in the bodies of juvenile mountain pine beetles.

"Trans-verbenol is a pheromone that female mountain pine beetles use to attract other insects to a suitable host tree and coordinate large-scale attacks," said Christine Chiu, lead author of the study and graduate student at the Michael Smith Laboratories at UBC. "It was previously assumed that adult females produced trans-verbenol by converting toxic compounds found in the resin of new pine trees they landed on into pheromones. In this study, we found that the beetles have some secrets: they actually accumulate and store trans-verbenol during their larval and pupal stages in the brood trees as they grow."

Female beetles burrow into the bark of healthy pine trees to mate and lay eggs, where their developing larvae gradually gut the tree. Chiu analyzed beetle specimens collected in British Columbia at different life stages using gas chromatography.

She found that both male and female mountain pine beetles accumulate trans-verbenol during their development in the brood tree, but only the adult females retained it until they emerged and dispersed in search of new host trees.

"What we have found is that female beetles can release trans-verbenol independent of whether or not they are in contact with alpha-pinene, the compound found in the resin of new host trees," said Joerg Bohlmann, the principal investigator of the study and professor at the Michael Smith Laboratories and faculty of forestry. "This shows that there is a certain level of independence on the part of the attacking female bark beetles to produce this compound."

Mountain pine beetles have been spreading into new habitats, migrating east from B.C. into Alberta, and from lodgepole pine to different species like the jack pine.

"Scientists have been making predictions of how well the beetles will do in those new areas based on the chemical profiles of trees in these new areas. The trees may have different ratios or types of alpha-pinene that result in different kinds of trans-verbenol, which may have an impact on how attractive it is to the beetles," said Chiu. "Our findings suggest that rather than looking at the chemical profiles of the trees the beetles are attacking, we should perhaps be looking at the brood trees the beetles develop in."

###

Media Contact

Sachi Wickramasinghe
[email protected]
604-822-4636
@UBCnews

http://www.ubc.ca

Share25Tweet16Share4ShareSendShare
  • cotton microfiber

    Looking beyond microplastics, Oregon State researchers find that cotton and synthetic microfibers impact behavior and growth of aquatic organisms

    70 shares
    Share 28 Tweet 18
  • Seawater split to produce green hydrogen

    70 shares
    Share 28 Tweet 18
  • Face masks cut distance airborne pathogens could travel in half, new study finds

    184 shares
    Share 74 Tweet 46
  • Voice-activated system for hands-free, safer DNA handling

    65 shares
    Share 26 Tweet 16
  • Feather mite species related to the Laysan albatross discovered in Japan

    65 shares
    Share 26 Tweet 16
  • Why lung cancer doesn’t respond well to immunotherapy

    65 shares
    Share 26 Tweet 16
ADVERTISEMENT

About us

We bring you the latest science news from best research centers and universities around the world. Check our website.

Latest NEWS

New study shows snacking on mixed tree nuts may impact cardiovascular risk factors and increase serotonin

Null results research now published by major behavioral medicine journal

Looking beyond microplastics, Oregon State researchers find that cotton and synthetic microfibers impact behavior and growth of aquatic organisms

Subscribe to Blog via Email

Enter your email address to subscribe to this blog and receive notifications of new posts by email.

Join 205 other subscribers

© 2022 Scienmag- Science Magazine: Latest Science News.

No Result
View All Result
  • HOME PAGE
  • BIOLOGY
  • CHEMISTRY AND PHYSICS
  • MEDICINE
    • Cancer
    • Infectious Emerging Diseases
  • SPACE
  • TECHNOLOGY
  • CONTACT US

© 2022 Scienmag- Science Magazine: Latest Science News.

Welcome Back!

Login to your account below

Forgotten Password?

Retrieve your password

Please enter your username or email address to reset your password.

Log In