The ability of a specialized herbivore to overcome the chemical defense of a particular plant taxon not only makes it accessible as a food source but may also provide metabolites to be exploited for communication or chemical defense. Phyllotreta flea beetles are adapted to crucifer plants (Brassicales) that are defended by the glucosinolate-myrosinase system, the so-called "mustard-oil bomb." Tissue damage caused by insect feeding brings glucosinolates into contact with the plant enzyme myrosinase, which hydrolyzes them to form toxic compounds, such as isothiocyanates. However, we previously observed that Phyllotreta striolata beetles themselves produce volatile glucosinolate hydrolysis products. Here, we show that P. striolata adults selectively accumulate glucosinolates from their food plants to up to 1.75% of their body weight and express their own myrosinase. By combining proteomics and transcriptomics, a gene responsible for myrosinase activity in P. striolata was identified. The major substrates of the heterologously expressed myrosinase were aliphatic glucosinolates, which were hydrolyzed with at least fourfold higher efficiency than aromatic and indolic glucosinolates, and β-O-glucosides. The identified beetle myrosinase belongs to the glycoside hydrolase family 1 and has up to 76% sequence similarity to other β-glucosidases. Phylogenetic analyses suggest species-specific diversification of this gene family in insects and an independent evolution of the beetle myrosinase from other insect β-glucosidases. convergent evolution | host plant specialization P hytophagous insects are confronted with an arsenal of constitutive and inducible chemical plant defenses (1). To avoid deleterious effects from plant toxins, herbivores require appropriate biochemical adaptations allowing them to deal with these metabolites, for example, by developing insensitive target sites or by enzymatic detoxification. Many specialized insects are able to sequester plant defense compounds and exploit them for their own protection against natural enemies and/or as semiochemicals in interspecific communication (2, 3).The glucosinolate-myrosinase system characteristic of plants in the order Brassicales is one of the best-studied activated plant defense systems (4-6), and several different strategies for avoiding glucosinolate toxicity have been described in specialized insect herbivores of the orders Lepidoptera, Hemiptera, and Hymenoptera (7). Glucosinolates are a structurally diverse group of β-thioglucoside-N-hydroxysulfates that are classified according to their precursor amino acid as aliphatic, aromatic, or indolic glucosinolates (6,8). Plant myrosinases, ascorbate-dependent β-thioglucosidases (EC 3.2.1.147) belonging to glycoside hydrolase family 1 (GH1), are stored separately from the glucosinolates and only come into contact with their substrate when the spatial compartmentalization is destroyed, for example, by herbivore feeding (6). The profile of hydrolysis products then depends on glucosinolate structure, cellular conditio...

After herbivory, plants release volatile organic compounds from damaged foliage as well as from nearby undamaged leaves that attract herbivore enemies. Little is known about what controls the volatile emission differences between damaged and undamaged tissues and how these affect the orientation of herbivore enemies. We investigated volatile emission from damaged and adjacent undamaged foliage of black poplar (Populus nigra) after herbivory by gypsy moth (Lymantria dispar) caterpillars and determined the compounds mediating the attraction of the gypsy moth parasitoid Glyptapanteles liparidis (Braconidae). Female parasitoids were more attracted to gypsy moth-damaged leaves than to adjacent non-damaged leaves. The most characteristic volatiles of damaged versus neighbouring undamaged leaves included terpenes, green leaf volatiles and nitrogencontaining compounds, such as aldoximes and nitriles. Electrophysiological recordings and olfactometer bioassays demonstrated the importance of nitrogenous volatiles. Under field conditions, parasitic Hymenoptera were more attracted to traps baited with these substances than most other compounds. The differences in volatile emission profiles between damaged and undamaged foliage appear to be regulated by jasmonate signalling and the local activation of volatile biosynthesis. We conclude that characteristic volatiles from damaged black poplar foliage are essential cues enabling parasitoids to find their hosts.

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The ability to decrypt volatile plant signals is essential if herbivorous insects are to optimize their choice of host plants for their offspring. Green leaf volatiles (GLVs) constitute a widespread group of defensive plant volatiles that convey a herbivory-specific message via their isomeric composition: feeding of the tobacco hornworm Manduca sexta converts (Z)-3- to (E)-2-GLVs thereby attracting predatory insects. Here we show that this isomer-coded message is monitored by ovipositing M. sexta females. We detected the isomeric shift in the host plant Datura wrightii and performed functional imaging in the primary olfactory center of M. sexta females with GLV structural isomers. We identified two isomer-specific regions responding to either (Z)-3- or (E)-2-hexenyl acetate. Field experiments demonstrated that ovipositing Manduca moths preferred (Z)-3-perfumed D. wrightii over (E)-2-perfumed plants. These results show that (E)-2-GLVs and/or specific (Z)-3/(E)-2-ratios provide information regarding host plant attack by conspecifics that ovipositing hawkmoths use for host plant selection.DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.7554/eLife.00421.001