according to foreign media New Atlas reports, as individuals, the Locust is largely harmless insects. But when they are gathered together to form the infamous locust swarm, they will cause all kinds of environmental damage.< span class="bjh-strong">Chinese scientists have now discovered a method to promote these destructive cluster formation of key chemicals for the control of their behavior and limit their damage offers new possibilities.
Research is focused on the migratory Locust, which is one of the most widely distributed species, is also a can be used as a peaceful, solitary creatures start living species. But when they experienced changes in environmental conditions, such as heavy rain or when wet, they will enter a gregarious phase, at this stage, they will be other locusts strongly attract, banded together to form billions of locusts swarm, covering the majority of areas.
when these huge swarm at the surface when migrating them to the crops causing enormous damage, completely destroying farmland. Studies show that this economic burden mainly by the vulnerable region of subsistence farmers to bear. This year, a recent locust plague in Africa, in the region for decades the most serious plague of locusts, there are cities the size of the locust swarms are tearing the crops.
when the locusts leave solitary phase to the gregarious phase occurs when some of the interesting biological changes. The Rockefeller University Leslie B. Vosshall said pigment changes their color from Green to black, they began to produce a may be metabolized to cyanide molecule. He was not involved in the study, but in the journal Nature on the discovery wrote in a commentary.
researchers had thought that, in this process in a place, one that promotes social pheromone also become this mixed part of the change, but so far unable to confirm this compound. Now, the Chinese Academy of Sciences, the scientists through a series of field experiments, behavioral assays, the electrophysiological recording and the olfactory receptor characterization, just do this.
related compound called 4-vinyl anisole, the research team found that, whether it is gregarious locusts or solitary locusts, will be strongly attracted. Interestingly, the team found through experiments, just four or five only solitary locusts together, you can start the aggregation pheromone produced, and have a“snowball”effect, leading to a huge Locust Swarm.
through the investigation, the team at Grasshopper who accurately find a method named OR35 odorant receptor, the receptor is 4-vinyl anisole is strongly activating. It is even the use of CRISPR-Cas9 gene editing technology, the missing OR35 gene encoding the mutant locusts for engineering design, found that they are unable to detect pheromones, so the pheromone did not respond.
“this discovery is exciting because it suggests that locusts can be designed pheromone of the impact of immunization,”Vosshall says.
the researchers also need further work to understand the 4-vinyl anisole in the Locust communicative stage exactly where play a role, as well as it in the locusts of disruptive behavior in the play what role. But this study opens up some exciting possibilities, including the exploration can be blocked OR35 receptor compound, in order to prevent massive Locust Swarm formation.
the study, published in “Nature” magazine.
