Markus Knaden

This study shows how Drosophila sechellia evolved a specialized olfactory receptor to detect ripe noni fruit, enabling temporal niche partitioning by reducing competition and parasitization.

This study shows that Tunisian desert ants use intraspecific conflict as a distributed landmark to improve navigation accuracy and adjust homing strategies.

The paper shows that Drosophila species prefer odour components most distinctive in their natural host blends, revealing that olfactory behaviours exploit the statistical structure of odour environments.

This study identifies Drosophila busckii's tolerance and use of dimethyldisulfide (DMDS) as an olfactory cue for host selection, linking it to an insensitive cytochrome c oxidase.

The paper quantifies sex-specific compounds in 99 drosophilid species, showing significant variation in concentrations that may contribute to reproductive isolation.

This study identifies male pheromones that shorten the ejaculate holding period in Drosophila females by activating pC1 neurons via cAMP, promoting re-mating.

This study shows that olfactory learning modulates second-order olfactory neurons in Drosophila, affecting innate odor-guided behavior through bidirectional plasticity.

The paper investigates the co-expression of gustatory receptor Gr64b with olfactory receptors in Drosophila OSNs and finds no functional role for Gr64b in odor detection.

This study identifies 208 odorants relevant to locust ecology and shows that locust olfactory receptors are narrowly tuned to specific ligands, with single receptor knockouts abolishing responses to their ligands.

This study investigates how female hawkmoths distinguish between crucial and background plant odors, finding that their olfactory system uniquely codes for larval host plants even when these odors are subtle.

The paper characterizes sex pheromone communication systems in Drosophila by analyzing phylogenetic and chemical traits across 99 species, identifying 51 sex-specific compounds and their roles in reproductive isolation.

Alcohol exposure increases pheromone production in male flies, enhancing courtship success, but methanol is toxic, requiring a balance between benefits and risks.

The paper identifies two male-specific pheromones in Drosophila mojavensis subspecies and shows how they contribute to sexual isolation through conserved sensory pathways and differential interpretation.

The paper shows that inhibiting programmed cell death in Drosophila olfactory neurons generates functional 'undead' neurons that integrate into circuits and contribute to evolutionary differences in carbon dioxide sensing.

This study identifies molecular and neuronal changes underlying behavioural divergence in Drosophila sechellia through mutational analysis and calcium imaging.

The paper shows that the co-receptor IR8a is essential for hawkmoths to avoid ovipositing on plants already attacked by conspecific caterpillars, based on frass-emitted carboxylic acids.

This study uses CRISPR-Cas9 to knock out orco in hawkmoths, showing impaired foraging but normal oviposition behavior.