Title: | Identification of potential pheromone source in sows |
Author(s): | Silambarasan V; Deepalakshmi G; Sankarganesh D; Nithya V; Archunan G; |
Address: | "Pheromone Technology Laboratory, Department of Animal Science, Bharathidasan University, Tiruchirappalli 620024, Tamil Nadu, India. Department of Biotechnology, School of Bio and Chemical Engineering, Kalasalingam Academy of Research and Education, Krishnankoil 626126, Tamil Nadu, India; Department of Microbial Biotechnology, Bharathiar University, Coimbatore 641046, Tamil Nadu, India. Department of Animal Health and Management, Alagappa University, Karaikudi 630 003, Tamil Nadu, India. Pheromone Technology Laboratory, Department of Animal Science, Bharathidasan University, Tiruchirappalli 620024, Tamil Nadu, India. Electronic address: garchu56@yahoo.co.in" |
DOI: | 10.1016/j.beproc.2019.103940 |
ISSN/ISBN: | 1872-8308 (Electronic) 0376-6357 (Linking) |
Abstract: | "Pheromones play a pivotal role in intra-species communication for reproduction and social behavior in a variety of mammals, such as boars. For boars, saliva is a rich source of pheromones, however, the identification of additional sources and relative abundance of pheromones in various body fluids of sows is also essential to understand the reproductive behaviors of pigs. The present study was designed to identify the source(s) of pheromones in sows. We collected urine, feces, saliva and cervical mucus/vaginal wash samples from sows at pre-estrus, estrus and post-estrus phases, and from gilts and exposed boars to each of these potential sources of pheromones. All the boars tested spent more time sniffing and hyper-salivating in response to urine from sows in estrus than that from sows not in estrus. The sniffing behavior of boars towards estrus samples differed from that towards the samples from non-estrus sows (P?ª+ª+0.005) and gilts (P?ª+ª+0.001). Further, hypersalivation behavior of boars differed between estrus samples and gilt samples (P?ª+ª+0.05) and estrus samples compared to pre-estrus samples (P?ª+ª+0.05). This is an indication that pheromones are abundant in the estrus samples. We conclude that urine of estrus sows can be a rich source of pheromones and the same can be used to identify, purify and characterize novel pheromone molecules" |
Keywords: | "Animals Estrus/*physiology Female Pheromones/*physiology/urine Sexual Behavior, Animal/*physiology Sus scrofa/*physiology Swine Weaning Estrus Hypersalivation Pheromone Sow Urine;" |
Notes: | "MedlineSilambarasan, Velliyangiri Deepalakshmi, Govindarajan Sankarganesh, Devaraj Nithya, Varadharaju Archunan, Govindaraju eng Netherlands 2019/08/26 Behav Processes. 2019 Nov; 168:103940. doi: 10.1016/j.beproc.2019.103940. Epub 2019 Aug 22" |