A dual function for 4-methoxybenzaldehyde in Petasites fragrans?: Pollinator-attractant and ant-repellent

Jonathan Gilson Pattrick; Tom  Shepherd; Will Hoppitt; Nichola S. Plowman; Pat Willmer

doi:10.1007/s11829-017-9519-3

A dual function for 4-methoxybenzaldehyde in Petasites fragrans? Pollinator-attractant and ant-repellent

Jonathan Gilson Pattrick, Tom Shepherd, Will Hoppitt, Nichola S. Plowman, Pat Willmer

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

Abstract

Ant-repellent floral volatiles offer one method through which plants can mediate the detrimental effects of ants on flowers. Although the repellence itself is well-documented, the volatiles involved are less well explored. Here we investigated the floral bouquet of ant-repellent male flowers of Petasites fragrans, identifying 4-methoxybenzaldehyde as the main component. 4-methoxybenzaldehyde significantly repelled ants when presented in isolation in an olfactometer and thus is the likely source of the repellent effect. As 4-methoxybenzaldehyde has previously been shown to attract pollinators, it may therefore have a dual function in P. fragrans, pollinator-attractant and ant-repellent. Additionally, 4-methoxybenzaldehyde is particularly interesting as an ant-repellent as it has been observed in the bouquets of other plant species with specific ant interactions.

Original language	English
Pages (from-to)	623-627
Number of pages	5
Journal	Arthropod-Plant Interactions
Volume	11
Issue number	5
Early online date	18 Apr 2017
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1007/s11829-017-9519-3
Publication status	Published - Oct 2017

Keywords

Petasites fragrans
Ant-repellent floral volatiles
4-methoxybenzaldehyde
p-anisaldehyde

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Pattrick_2017_API_Petasitesfragrans_CC
© The Author(s) 2017. Open Access. This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons license, and indicate if changes were made.
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Cite this

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title = "A dual function for 4-methoxybenzaldehyde in Petasites fragrans?: Pollinator-attractant and ant-repellent",

abstract = "Ant-repellent floral volatiles offer one method through which plants can mediate the detrimental effects of ants on flowers. Although the repellence itself is well-documented, the volatiles involved are less well explored. Here we investigated the floral bouquet of ant-repellent male flowers of Petasites fragrans, identifying 4-methoxybenzaldehyde as the main component. 4-methoxybenzaldehyde significantly repelled ants when presented in isolation in an olfactometer and thus is the likely source of the repellent effect. As 4-methoxybenzaldehyde has previously been shown to attract pollinators, it may therefore have a dual function in P. fragrans, pollinator-attractant and ant-repellent. Additionally, 4-methoxybenzaldehyde is particularly interesting as an ant-repellent as it has been observed in the bouquets of other plant species with specific ant interactions.",

keywords = "Petasites fragrans, Ant-repellent floral volatiles, 4-methoxybenzaldehyde, p-anisaldehyde",

author = "Pattrick, {Jonathan Gilson} and Tom Shepherd and Will Hoppitt and Plowman, {Nichola S.} and Pat Willmer",

note = "JGP was jointly funded by a Natural Environment Research Council studentship, Grant number NE/H524930/1, and the University of St Andrews. Part of this work was funded by the Rural & Environment Science & Analytical Services Division of the Scottish Government. ",

year = "2017",

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doi = "10.1007/s11829-017-9519-3",

language = "English",

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T1 - A dual function for 4-methoxybenzaldehyde in Petasites fragrans?

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AU - Shepherd, Tom

AU - Hoppitt, Will

AU - Plowman, Nichola S.

AU - Willmer, Pat

N1 - JGP was jointly funded by a Natural Environment Research Council studentship, Grant number NE/H524930/1, and the University of St Andrews. Part of this work was funded by the Rural & Environment Science & Analytical Services Division of the Scottish Government.

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N2 - Ant-repellent floral volatiles offer one method through which plants can mediate the detrimental effects of ants on flowers. Although the repellence itself is well-documented, the volatiles involved are less well explored. Here we investigated the floral bouquet of ant-repellent male flowers of Petasites fragrans, identifying 4-methoxybenzaldehyde as the main component. 4-methoxybenzaldehyde significantly repelled ants when presented in isolation in an olfactometer and thus is the likely source of the repellent effect. As 4-methoxybenzaldehyde has previously been shown to attract pollinators, it may therefore have a dual function in P. fragrans, pollinator-attractant and ant-repellent. Additionally, 4-methoxybenzaldehyde is particularly interesting as an ant-repellent as it has been observed in the bouquets of other plant species with specific ant interactions.

AB - Ant-repellent floral volatiles offer one method through which plants can mediate the detrimental effects of ants on flowers. Although the repellence itself is well-documented, the volatiles involved are less well explored. Here we investigated the floral bouquet of ant-repellent male flowers of Petasites fragrans, identifying 4-methoxybenzaldehyde as the main component. 4-methoxybenzaldehyde significantly repelled ants when presented in isolation in an olfactometer and thus is the likely source of the repellent effect. As 4-methoxybenzaldehyde has previously been shown to attract pollinators, it may therefore have a dual function in P. fragrans, pollinator-attractant and ant-repellent. Additionally, 4-methoxybenzaldehyde is particularly interesting as an ant-repellent as it has been observed in the bouquets of other plant species with specific ant interactions.

KW - Petasites fragrans

KW - Ant-repellent floral volatiles

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KW - p-anisaldehyde

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DO - 10.1007/s11829-017-9519-3

M3 - Article

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JO - Arthropod-Plant Interactions

JF - Arthropod-Plant Interactions

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ER -

A dual function for 4-methoxybenzaldehyde in Petasites fragrans? Pollinator-attractant and ant-repellent

Abstract

Keywords

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