Fig trees and wasps recognize each other through precisely matched scent proteins
Long GY, Xu JX, Yuan Y, Miao BG, Li DQ, Kong XT, Liu YY, Cao L, Peng YQ, Ai H.
Pollinators
If you grow a common fig at home or spot one fruiting in a garden, you're watching a chemical conversation between tree and wasp so precisely tuned that a single changed amino acid in the wasp's nose can break the partnership entirely.
Fig trees don't passively wait to be pollinated; they broadcast a welcoming scent when they're ready and switch to a 'go away' scent once they've been visited. Fig wasps have proteins in their antennae precisely tuned to recognize these signals from their specific host tree, which is why each fig species pairs with only one wasp species. Scientists identified the exact molecular switches, down to individual building blocks in these proteins, that make this recognition so precise.
Key Findings
Fig trees dynamically regulate scent output across development, strongly activating attractant-producing enzymes during the receptive phase and switching to repellent-producing enzymes after pollination
Pollinator fig wasp scent-binding proteins showed markedly higher binding affinities to host fig volatiles than proteins from non-pollinator wasps, explaining species-pair exclusivity
Site-directed mutagenesis pinpointed single amino acid residues, Phe109 and Phe117, as the molecular keys in two pollinator wasp binding proteins that enable high-affinity recognition
chevron_right Technical Summary
Fig trees actively control their own pollination timing by switching their scent profile at key developmental stages: drawing pollinating wasps in with sweet attractant compounds when their flowers are ready, then switching to repellent scents once pollination is complete. The wasps carry specialized scent-binding proteins calibrated to recognize their host tree's specific chemical signals, revealing the molecular basis for why each fig species pairs exclusively with its own wasp species.
Abstract Preview
Original paper
Olfactory proteins and floral scent synthases mediate the specificity of fig-wasp mutualism.
The obligate mutualism between fig trees and their pollinating fig wasps provides a classical model for investigating coevolution. While olfactory cues are crucial for fig wasps to locate their hos...
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The fig is the edible fruit of Ficus carica, a species of tree or shrub in the flowering plant family Moraceae, native to the Mediterranean region, and to western and southern Asia. It has been cultivated since ancient times and is now widely grown throughout the world. Ficus carica is the type s...