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Updated: Apr 18, 2026
Electroantennographic Bioassay as a Screening Tool for Host Plant Volatiles
Published on: May 6, 2012
Integrative screening of plant volatiles through transient receptor potential channel docking, olfactometry, and
Amit Umesh Paschapur1,2, Dheerendra Pandey2, Lokendra Singh3
1ICAR-Vivekananda Parvatiya Krishi Anusandhan Sansthan, Almora, India.
Background:
Bemisia tabaci is a globally damaging pest for which insecticide reliance and resistance demand eco-rational, mechanism-informed alternatives. This study aimed to build a multi-tier pipeline of (TRP) channel docking, Y-tube olfactometry, RNA interference (RNAi) functional validation, and field trapping to identify and mechanistically support plant volatile attractants for improved monitoring/management.
Results:
Docking of 51 volatile organic compounds against six modelled TRP receptors (Transient Receptor Potential Cation Channel Subfamily A Member 1 (TRPA1), TRPV-Inactive, TRPL, Transient Receptor Potential Melastatin (TRPM), TRPML, TRPP-PKD1) yielded binding energies from -3.2 to -7.6 kcal mol-1, with TRPM/TRPA1 showing the most stable interactions; shortlisted ligands showed ΔG -5.9 to -7.6 kcal mol-1 and Ki 2.7-47.3 μM. In Y-tube assays (five concentrations: 10000-1 ppm, n = 5), attraction was ligand-dependent (F = 1852.03, P < 0.0001); top ligands reached Amax ~0.61-0.66, including thymol (olfactory preference index up to 0.66 ± 0.04), cis-3-hexen-1-ol (up to 0.62 ± 0.05), β-caryophyllene (up to 0.61 ± 0.04), cuminaldehyde (up to 0.61 ± 0.03), and phenylacetaldehyde (up to 0.64 ± 0.04). RNAi feeding caused strong, time-dose knockdown: at 250-500 ppm, TRPA1 and TRPM transcripts dropped to ~0.18-0.13 fold (24-48 h), while combined dsTRPA1 + dsTRPM reached minima ~0.05-0.04 fold; behavioural attraction fell from ~0.58-0.65 (control/double stranded Green Fluorescent Protein (dsGFP)) to ~0.15-0.19 (dsTRPM) and ~0.02-0.19 (dsTRPA1), with dual knockdown reaching -0.02 to 0.13 (1 ppm). Field trials (three chrysanthemum fields, randomized complete block design, 10 ligands + control) showed 2.1-3.2× higher catches than control (F10,66 = 41.07, P < 0.0001); thymol peaked at 42.1 ± 2.8 adults trap-1 (AI = 3.17, CV = 6.6%) and retained 128.5% efficacy by day 6.
Conclusion:
The convergence of docking affinity, lab attraction, RNAi-dependent behavioural suppression, and consistent field performance supports TRPA1/TRPM as key contributors to volatile-guided orientation and delivers validated attractants (notably thymol, β-caryophyllene, cuminaldehyde) for stronger, more reliable whitefly monitoring and semiochemical-based integrated pest management. © 2026 Society of Chemical Industry.
