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RESEARCH PRODUCT

Three decades of pheromonal research in Drosophila: some answers and many questions

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International audience; Over the last 30 years, pheromonal research in Drosophila has considerably expanded from the pioneering characterization of contact sex-pheromones in D. melanogaster adults1 right up to the recent discovery of the receptor proteins for these compounds.2,. The two sides of pheromonal communication – production and perception – have been explored using molecular, genetic, cellular, biochemical, physiological, ethological and evolutionary approaches3. Developmental and environmental effects on hydrocarbon production and the mechanisms underlying the plasticity of their perception have been also investigated3. Over the past few years, there has been a particular focus on cis-Vaccenyl acetate (cVA), a non-cuticular volatile pheromone4. In contrast, far fewer reports have investigated the effect of the 59 cuticular hydrocarbons5 which generally show little or no volatility6. Many fundamental questions remain: what is the exact role of pheromone in Drosophila speciation7? How can the pheromonal system which involves both the production and the perception of sensory signals, evolve without the communication between the sexes breaking down8? Do larvae also produce and respond to pheromones9? Can pheromone exposure during larval10 or early adult11 development change mature adult behavior? I will discuss several recent findings relating to these questions. References 1 Antony C., and Jallon JM., J. Insect Physiol. 28:87 (1982) 2 Thistle R., et al., Cell 149:1140 (2012) 3 Ferveur JF., Behav. Genet. 35:279 (2005) 4 Butterworth FM., Science 163:1356 (1969) 5 Everaerts C, et al., PLoSONE 5:e9607 (2010) 6 Farine JP. , et al., PLoSONE in press (2012) 7 Grillet M., et al., Sci. Rep. 2:224 (2012) 8 Bousquet F., et al., PNAS 109:249 (2012) 9 Beltrami M., et al., PLoSONE in press (2012) 10 Kim YK, et al., Behav. Genet. 26:15 (1996) 11 Svetec N., et al., Curr. Biol. 15:R790 (2005)