| RRC ID |
57408
|
| Author |
Chin JS, Ellis SR, Pham HT, Blanksby SJ, Mori K, Koh QL, Etges WJ, Yew JY.
|
| Title |
Sex-specific triacylglycerides are widely conserved in Drosophila and mediate mating behavior.
|
| Journal |
Elife
|
| Abstract |
Pheromones play an important role in the behavior, ecology, and evolution of many organisms. The structure of many insect pheromones typically consists of a hydrocarbon backbone, occasionally modified with various functional oxygen groups. Here we show that sex-specific triacylclyerides (TAGs) are broadly conserved across the subgenus Drosophila in 11 species and represent a novel class of pheromones that has been largely overlooked. In desert-adapted drosophilids, 13 different TAGs are secreted exclusively by males from the ejaculatory bulb, transferred to females during mating, and function synergistically to inhibit courtship from other males. Sex-specific TAGs are comprised of at least one short branched tiglic acid and a long linear fatty acyl component, an unusual structural motif that has not been reported before in other natural products. The diversification of chemical cues used by desert-adapted Drosophila as pheromones may be related to their specialized diet of fermenting cacti.
|
| Volume |
3
|
| Pages |
e01751
|
| Published |
2014-3-11
|
| DOI |
10.7554/eLife.01751
|
| PMID |
24618898
|
| PMC |
PMC3948109
|
| MeSH |
Animals
Biological Evolution
Crotonates / chemistry*
Crotonates / metabolism
Desert Climate
Drosophila melanogaster / chemistry
Drosophila melanogaster / classification
Drosophila melanogaster / physiology*
Female
Hemiterpenes
Male
Molecular Structure
Pheromones / biosynthesis
Pheromones / chemistry*
Phylogeny
Reproduction / physiology
Sex Characteristics
Sexual Behavior, Animal / physiology*
Triglycerides / biosynthesis
Triglycerides / chemistry*
|
| IF |
7.551
|
| Times Cited |
31
|
| Resource |
| Drosophila |
D. virilis, D. hydei, D.americana, D. buzzatii, and D. montana |
