Life hanging on a thread; disrupting the structure and function of lepidopteran silking behaviour. The production and use of silk by many invertebrates is vital for their survival. We develop a means of visualising and understanding the role of silking behaviour as a survival mechanism for Helicoverpa larvae (a key world-wide pest) with a view to disrupting silking. This novel project allows us to understand not just where larvae go but what they do along the way. The project outcomes will have ....Life hanging on a thread; disrupting the structure and function of lepidopteran silking behaviour. The production and use of silk by many invertebrates is vital for their survival. We develop a means of visualising and understanding the role of silking behaviour as a survival mechanism for Helicoverpa larvae (a key world-wide pest) with a view to disrupting silking. This novel project allows us to understand not just where larvae go but what they do along the way. The project outcomes will have wide application to the study and control of lepidopteran pests in natural and agricultural ecosystems and is of interest to applied and fundamental projects associated with insect pest control, behaviour and ecology.Read moreRead less
Discovery Early Career Researcher Award - Grant ID: DE160100382
Funder
Australian Research Council
Funding Amount
$372,000.00
Summary
Odorant recognition in insect olfactory system to control insect behaviour. This project seeks to develop new insights into insect’s ability to detect odour and to identify potential attractant compounds to support the development of environmentally safer insect pest control strategies. Insect reliance on senses to detect food has considerable potential for the development of odour-based behaviour control methods. Odorant binding proteins (OBPs) are an ideal molecular target to identify odorant- ....Odorant recognition in insect olfactory system to control insect behaviour. This project seeks to develop new insights into insect’s ability to detect odour and to identify potential attractant compounds to support the development of environmentally safer insect pest control strategies. Insect reliance on senses to detect food has considerable potential for the development of odour-based behaviour control methods. Odorant binding proteins (OBPs) are an ideal molecular target to identify odorant-based insect attractants from a large pool of compounds. However, our understanding of the molecular mechanism that mediates chemoreception in insects is limited. This project may provide valuable insight into the role of OBPs in molecular recognition in insects and develop a new way to screen attractants based on the binding ability of OBPs to compounds.Read moreRead less