Search results for "Sex Attractants"

Evolutionary importance of intraspecific variation in sex pheromones

2021

Sex pheromones in many insect species are important species-recognition signals that attract conspecifics and inhibit attraction between heterospecifics; therefore, sex pheromones have predominantly been considered to evolve due to interactions between species. Recent research, however, is uncovering roles for these signals in mate choice, and that variation within and between populations can be drivers of species evolution. Variation in pheromone communication channels arises from a combination of context-dependent, condition-dependent, or genetic mechanisms in both signalers and receivers. Variation can affect mate choice and thus gene flow between individuals and populations, affecting s…

World-wide variation in Drosophila melanogaster sex pheromone: behavioural effects, genetic bases and potential evolutionary consequences

1996

0016-6707 (Print) Journal Article Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't; In Drosophila melanogaster, male wing vibration, a key element of courtship behaviour, is most efficiently induced by a female-specific contact pheromone cis, cis 7,11 heptacosadiene (7,11 HD), which is the main mature female cuticular hydrocarbon in the CS laboratory strain. A study of 63 strains from around the world revealed that flies from Sub-Saharan Africa and the Caribbean are unique in showing low levels 7,11 HD and high levels of the position isomer 5,9 HD. This difference maps to chromosome III, perhaps indicating a simple genetic control of the 7,11 HD:5,9 HD ratio. Females from strains with high levels of 7,11 H…

A new C12 alcohol identified as a sex pheromone and a trail-following pheromone in termites: the diene (Z,Z)-dodeca-3,6-dien-1-ol

2003

0028-1042 (Print) Journal Article; The diunsaturated C12 alcohol (Z,Z)-dodeca-3,6-dien-1-ol (dodecadienol) has been characterized by GC-MS and FTIR as a novel releaser pheromone in termites. This alcohol identified in Ancistrotermes pakistanicus (Termitidae, Macrotermitinae) possesses a double pheromonal function which again illustrates the chemical parsimony of termites compared with other social insects. In workers, dodecadienol elicits trail-following at a very low concentration (activity threshold at 0.1 pg/cm of trail); in male alates it induces trail-following at a low concentration (1-10 pg/cm) and sexual attraction at a higher concentration (about 1 ng). Traces of the monounsaturate…

Biogenic Amines Modulate Olfactory Receptor Neurons Firing Activity in Mamestra brassicae

2001

The modulatory effects of the biogenic amines octopamine and serotonin on pheromonal receptor neurons of Mamestra brassicae were investigated. The responses to sex pheromone components of two cells types (A and B) in single male long sensilla trichodea were monitored. Cell types A and B do not respond to the same compound. The response of type A to a pulse of the major sex pheromone component increased 5 min after octopamine injection. Responses of type B to other odorants increased after 30 min. In the absence of any pheromone stimulation the background firing activity of type A increased following octopamine injection. This background activity was used to evaluate the kinetics of octopami…

Electrophysiological and Behavioral Responses of Oriental Fruit Moth to the Monoterpenoid Citral Alone and in Combination With Sex Pheromone

2013

The monoterpenoid citral synergized the electroantennogram (EAG) response of male Grapholita molesta (Busck) antennae to its main pheromone compound Z8-12:OAc. The response to a 10-μg pheromone stimulus increased by 32, 45, 54, 71 and 94% with the addition of 0.1, 1, 10, 100 and 1,000 μg of citral, respectively. There was no detectable response to 0.1, 1, or 10 μg of citral; the response to 100 and 1,000 μg of citral was 31 and 79% of the response to 10 μg of Z8-12:OAc. In a flight tunnel, citral affected the mate-seeking behavior of males. There was a 66% reduction in the number of males orientating by flight to a virgin calling female when citral was emitted at 1,000 ng/min ≍1 cm downwind…

Medicinal alkaloid as a sex pheromone

1997

Genetic study of the production of sexually dimorphic cuticular hydrocarbons in relation with the sex-determination gene transformer in Drosophila me…

2002

In Drosophila melanogaster, the main cuticular hydrocarbons (HCs) are some of the pheromones involved in mate discrimination. These are sexually dimorphic in both their occurrence and their effects. The production of predominant HCs has been measured in male and female progeny of 220 PGal4 lines mated with the feminising UAS-transformer transgenic strain. In 45 lines, XY flies were substantially or totally feminised for their HCs. Surprisingly, XX flies of 14 strains were partially masculinised. Several of the PGal4 enhancer-trap variants screened here seem to interact with sex determination mechanisms involved in the control of sexually dimorphic characters. We also found a good relationsh…

Dietary rescue of altered metabolism gene reveals unexpected [i]Drosophila[/i] mating cues

2015

Running title: Dietary rescue of metabolic mutation and reproduction; To develop and reproduce, animals need long-chain Mono and PolyUnsaturated Fatty Acids (MUFAs; PUFAs). Although some UFAs can be synthesized by the organism, others must be provided by the diet. The gene desat1, involved in Drosophila melanogaster UFA metabolism, is necessary for both larval development and for adult sex pheromone communication. We first characterized desat1 expression in larval tissues. Then, we found that larvae in which desat1 expression was knocked down throughout development died during the larval stages when raised on standard food. By contrast pure MUFAs or PUFAs, but not saturated FAs, added to th…

A Mutation With Major Effects on Drosophila melanogaster Sex Pheromones

2005

0016-6731 (Print) Comparative Study Journal Article Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't; Sex pheromones are intraspecific chemical signals that are crucial for mate attraction and discrimination. In Drosophila melanogaster, the predominant hydrocarbons on the cuticle of mature female and male flies are radically different and tend to stimulate or inhibit male courtship, respectively. This sexual difference depends largely upon the number of double bonds (one in males and two in females) added by desaturase enzymes. A mutation was caused by a PGal4 transposon inserted in the desat1 gene that codes for the desaturase crucial for setting these double bonds. Homozygous mutant flies produced 70-90%…

desat1: A Swiss army knife for pheromonal communication and reproduction?

2012

International audience; The desat1 gene possesses an extraordinary-maybe unique-feature in the control of sensory communication systems: it codes for the two principal and complementary aspects-the emission and the reception-of Drosophila sex pheromones. These two complex aspects depend on separate genetic control indicating that desat1 pleiotropically acts on pheromonal communication. This gene also control other characters either related to reproduction and to osmoregulation. Such a functional pleiotropy may be related to the molecular structure of desat1 gene which combines a highly conserved coding region with fast evolving regulatory regions: It produces at least five transcripts all g…