Max Planck Institute for Chemical Ecology

Single-cell multi-omics reveals that cell types are differentially involved in the production and accumulation of medically relevant plant compounds

The insects release phenylacetonitrile to fend off their own conspecifics
 

Two bacterial partners supply auger beetles with vital nutrients for the synthesis of a sturdy exoskeleton

High levels of ozone destroy the chemical mating signal of the insects and may thus contribute to global insect decline

When metabolizing spruce bark, the insect’s fungal partners release volatile compounds that bark beetles  recognize through specialized olfactory sensory neurons

Max Planck researchers are currently collaborating with partners in over 120 countries. In the following article they talk about their personal experiences and impressions. Andrea Müller from the Max Planck Institute for Chemical Ecology in Jena spent four months in Peru. She has been studying plants that live symbiotically with ants in the Tambopata National Reserve in the southeast of that country. Below, she shares her enthusiasm for the rainforest and how, in addition to the coronavirus, protesting coca farmers can jeopardize scientific field work.

Trees stand for strength and steadfastness. However, the latter can also be a handicap. This is because trees can neither run nor hide from enemies. Nevertheless, trees are by no means defenseless. Sybille Unsicker from the Max Planck Institute for Chemical Ecology in Jena is investigating how black poplars defend themselves against voracious insects.

Leghold traps, limed rods, pit traps - insectivorous plants have come up with unusual strategies to obtain additional nutrients. Axel Mithöfer at the Max Planck Institute for Chemical Ecology in Jena is investigating how pitcher plants from Southeast Asia entrap and digest their victims.

Every cabbage plant conceals a bomb – a mustard oil bomb. For many insects, this makes the plant unpalatable. Franziska Beran from the Max Planck Institute for Chemical Ecology in Jena now knows, however, how insects can avert this danger: flea beetles, for example, outsmart the plants’ defensive weapon and even commandeer it for their own protection.

Black poplar leaves are particularly susceptible to be attacked by gypsy moths if they are also infected by a fungus. Actually, young larvae of the gypsy moth that feed on leaves covered with fungal spores gain biomass much faster and pupate several days earlier than larvae that feed only on leaf tissue. The reason for this is probably that fungal spores improve the supply of nutrients in the caterpillars’ diet. Thus, some herbivores may be in fact also fungivores. Fungi and microorganisms probably play a more important role in the coevolution of plants and herbivores than previously thought.

Plants produce an enormous number of complex molecules. These compounds play various roles in the plants’ natural environment. Many of these compounds are also used in both traditional and modern medicine; some have even life-saving properties. Our aim is to elucidate the fundamental chemical, biological and evolutionary processes that underlie the biosynthesis of these complex molecules in order to be able to optimize their production using synthetic biology.

The tobacco hawkmoth uses olfaction to localize suitable host plants for oviposition. Recent findings suggest that the moth not only decides based on odors emitted by host plants, but also can sense odors emitted from frass of conspecific larvae already present on this host plant. By avoiding oviposition in the presence of frass odors, the female moth avoids conspecific competition for its offspring. Using the novel genetic tool CRISPR/Cas9 we could identify the olfactory receptor detecting these frass odors and hence, governing the moth’s competition avoidance.

Marine microalgae are ubiquitous in the ocean plankton and biofilms. We aim to elucidate how chemical signals and gradients affect plankton communities and how large species assemblages as well as microscopically small clusters are controlled by chemical signaling. We showed that plankton microalgae as well as bacteria produce a previously unknown sulfur compound and thus might fundamentally impact microbial interactions and the global sulfur cycle.

ABC transporters have many useful functions in insects, such as determining the coloration of the caterpillar body and the adult eye, and likely the detoxification of plant defense metabolites. But ABC transporters are also vulnerable to attack by toxins made by the bacterium Bacillus thuringiensis. The use of these toxins in transgenic crop plants sets up a new evolutionary conflict between benefits and costs of ABC transporters, that can help in the control of insect pests of agriculture.