Zsolt Karpati Postdoctoral Fellow   040-41 53 04 0730-84 41 99 zkarpati@hotmail.com

Education

PhD, 2007

 

Research

Evolutionary neuroethology of Olfaction in Ostrinia (funded by Carl Tryggers Stiftelse)

 

The European corn borer (ECB), Ostrinia nubilalis (Lep.: Pyralidae) is a serious pest in Europe and in US. It has two pheromone strains, which are produce and respond to opposite ratios of the two pheromone components, E11- and Z11-tetradecenyl-acetate. Therefore, the ECB is a good model organism for the study of evolution sexual communication and the olfactory circuitry in insects.

 

I study the neuroethology of Ostrinia using a comparative approach. We recently discovered a novel mechanism that can account for saltatory shifts in pheromone preference. In male O. nubilalis a single gene causes pheromone receptors (pORs) to swap between sensory neurons. The swap reverses the preference for the ratio in their two pheromone component blend, and supports the coexistence of two races. Using a multidisciplinary appproach involving molecular biology, physiology and immunocytochemistry, I will elucidate the mechanisms that underly this swap.

 

I will reconstruct the evolutionary history of pheromone preference in sibling species of ECB. These species are highly interesting as their pheromones differ in structure, ratio, or composition, which signify evolutionary changes at different levels of integration: pORs, expression pattern in antenna, and wiring in the brain.

 

Selected publication

Bengtsson M, Karpati Z, Szöcs G, Reuveny H, Yang Z, Witzgall P. 2006. Flight tunnel responses of Z strain European corn borer females to corn and hemp plants. Environmental Entomology 35:1238-1243