| Title: | Flying Drosophila show sex-specific attraction to fly-labelled food |
| Author(s): | Cazale-Debat L; Houot B; Farine JP; Everaerts C; Ferveur JF; |
| Address: | "Centre des Sciences du Go u t et de l'Alimentation, AgroSup, UMR6265 CNRS, UMR1324 INRA, Universite de Bourgogne Franche-Comte, 6, Bd Gabriel, 21000, Dijon, France. Laboratoire de Biologie Fonctionnelle et Adaptative, UMR8251, Universite Paris Diderot - Paris 7/CNRS Equipe Processus Degeneratifs, Stress et Vieillissement Batiment Buffon, 4, rue Marie Andree Lagroua Weill Halle, 75013, Paris, France. Centre des Sciences du Go u t et de l'Alimentation, AgroSup, UMR6265 CNRS, UMR1324 INRA, Universite de Bourgogne Franche-Comte, 6, Bd Gabriel, 21000, Dijon, France. jean-francois.ferveur@u-bourgogne.fr" |
| DOI: | 10.1038/s41598-019-51351-1 |
| ISSN/ISBN: | 2045-2322 (Electronic) 2045-2322 (Linking) |
| Abstract: | "Animals searching for food and sexual partners often use odourant mixtures combining food-derived molecules and pheromones. For orientation, the vinegar fly Drosophila melanogaster uses three types of chemical cues: (i) the male volatile pheromone 11-cis-vaccenyl acetate (cVA), (ii) sex-specific cuticular hydrocarbons (CHs; and CH-derived compounds), and (iii) food-derived molecules resulting from microbiota activity. To evaluate the effects of these chemicals on odour-tracking behaviour, we tested Drosophila individuals in a wind tunnel. Upwind flight and food preference were measured in individual control males and females presented with a choice of two food sources labelled by fly lines producing varying amounts of CHs and/or cVA. The flies originated from different species or strains, or their microbiota was manipulated. We found that (i) fly-labelled food could attract-but never repel-flies; (ii) the landing frequency on fly-labelled food was positively correlated with an increased flight duration; (iii) male-but not female or non-sex-specific-CHs tended to increase the landing frequency on fly-labelled food; (iv) cVA increased female-but not male-preference for cVA-rich food; and (v) microbiota-derived compounds only affected male upwind flight latency. Therefore, sex pheromones interact with food volatile chemicals to induce sex-specific flight responses in Drosophila" |
| Keywords: | "Animals *Behavior, Animal Drosophila melanogaster/*physiology Female Flight, Animal/*physiology Food Hydrocarbons/*chemistry Male Microbiota Odorants Oleic Acids/*chemistry Ovum Pheromones/*chemistry Sex Attractants/chemistry Sex Factors Smell;" |
| Notes: | "MedlineCazale-Debat, Laurie Houot, Benjamin Farine, Jean-Pierre Everaerts, Claude Ferveur, Jean-Francois eng Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't England 2019/10/20 Sci Rep. 2019 Oct 18; 9(1):14947. doi: 10.1038/s41598-019-51351-1" |
