Odor as a defensive weapon - for skunks and plants

Everybody knows that skunks can spray a liquid with a strong odor as a defensive weapon. 

Trees can protect themselves with odors as well - but in the opposite way. When they are attackad by insects biting into the leaves, trees emit odors
into the air to attract birds and bees (more exactly carnivorous wasps). 

Remember the scent of a freshly mowed lawn? Or torn leaves?  Similar scents attract various species of birds and insects - depending on the plant and the kind of damage.

In the recent paper, scientists released chickadee-like birds in an orchard of apple trees. Most birds immediately flew to trees infested with caterpillars.
Even if the birds could smell but not see.



REFERENCE

Luisa Amo1,2,*, Jeroen J. Jansen3, Nicole M. van Dam4, Marcel Dicke5, Marcel E. Visser1  Birds exploit herbivore-induced plant volatiles to locate herbivorous prey  Ecology Letters (2013) 16: 1348–1355

Lungs and Smells

Your lungs can smell too.

owever, instead of being used to detect the aroma of blueberry cobbler or a succulent roasting chicken, the odor receptors in the lungs trigger a response designed to protect the airways.
“We forget,” said study author Yehuda Ben-Shahar, “that our body plan is a tube within a tube, so our lungs and our gut are open to the external environment. Although they’re inside us, they

Read more at http://www.redorbit.com/news/health/1113038427/odor-receptors-discovered-in-human-lungs-010314/#3Qkt97vw3WLAxSkI.99

A new study found that receptors we have in the nose are also lining our lungs, membranes of neuroendocrine cells. And these receptors are there to protect us from harmful substances in the air. 

4 years ago, another study found bitter-tasting receptors in the lungs. Every time the bitter taste was detected, our lungs worked hard to sweet the chemicals out of the airways. The recent study explains why smells can cause shortness of breath, chest tightnessand other issues affecting lungs.

ublished in the American Journal of Respiratory Cell and Molecular Biology has revealed that odor receptors aren’t just found in the nose – they also line the lungs as well. However, instead of being used to detect the aroma of blueberry cobbler or a succulent roasting chicken, the odor receptors in the lungs trigger a response designed to protect the airways.
“We forget,” said study author Yehuda Ben-Shahar, “that our body plan is a tube within a tube, so our lungs and our gut are open to the external environment. Although they’re inside us, they’re actually part of our external layer.”
“So they constantly suffer environmental insults, and it makes sense that we evolved mechanisms to protect ourselves,” added Ben-Shahar, and assistant professor of biolo

Read more at http://www.redorbit.com/news/health/1113038427/odor-receptors-discovered-in-human-lungs-010314/#3Qkt97vw3WLAxSkI.99

owever, instead of being used to detect the aroma of blueberry cobbler or a succulent roasting chicken, the odor receptors in the lungs trigger a response designed to protect the airways.
“We forget,” said study author Yehuda Ben-Shahar, “that our body plan is a tube within a tube, so our lungs and our gut are open to the external environment. Although they’re inside us, they

Read more at http://www.redorbit.com/news/health/1113038427/odor-receptors-discovered-in-human-lungs-010314/#3Qkt97vw3WLAxSkI.99

REFERENCES

Philip H Karp, Steven L Brody, Richard A Pierce, Michael J Welsh, Michael J Holtzman, and Yehuda Ben-Shahar (2013) Volatile-Sensing Functions for Pulmonary Neuroendocrine Cells American Journal of Respiratory Cell and Molecular Biology 0 0:ja