Identification of Bioactive Volatile Organic Compounds Using Combined Gas Chromatography and Single Sensillum Recording

Most arthropods rely heavily on their sense of smell (i.e., olfaction) to locate and discriminate among mates, food, and egg laying sites. The odors emanating from these resources are composed of blends of volatile compounds that are detected by olfactory sensory neurons (OSNs) that are housed in hair-like structures, called sensilla, on the olfactory organs of arthropods. By inserting an electrode into a single sensillum and recording the activity of the OSNs while stimulating with volatile compounds eluting from a gas chromatograph, combined gas chromatography and single sensillum recording (GC-SSR) provides a high-resolution tool to identify bioactive compounds and to functionally characterize the peripheral olfactory system of arthropods.