Synergistic olfactory processing for social plasticity in desert locusts

Inga Petelski, Yannick Günzel (), Sercan Sayin, Susanne Kraus and Einat Couzin-Fuchs ()
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Inga Petelski: Ecology and Evolution from lab to field
Yannick Günzel: Ecology and Evolution from lab to field
Sercan Sayin: University of Konstanz
Susanne Kraus: University of Konstanz
Einat Couzin-Fuchs: University of Konstanz

Nature Communications, 2024, vol. 15, issue 1, 1-15

Abstract: Abstract Desert locust plagues threaten the food security of millions. Central to their formation is crowding-induced plasticity, with social phenotypes changing from cryptic (solitarious) to swarming (gregarious). Here, we elucidate the implications of this transition on foraging decisions and corresponding neural circuits. We use behavioral experiments and Bayesian modeling to decompose the multi-modal facets of foraging, revealing olfactory social cues as critical. To this end, we investigate how corresponding odors are encoded in the locust olfactory system using in-vivo calcium imaging. We discover crowding-dependent synergistic interactions between food-related and social odors distributed across stable combinatorial response maps. The observed synergy was specific to the gregarious phase and manifested in distinct odor response motifs. Our results suggest a crowding-induced modulation of the locust olfactory system that enhances food detection in swarms. Overall, we demonstrate how linking sensory adaptations to behaviorally relevant tasks can improve our understanding of social modulation in non-model organisms.

Date: 2024
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DOI: 10.1038/s41467-024-49719-7

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