| Title: | Symbiotic skin bacteria as a source for sex-specific scents in frogs |
| Author(s): | Brunetti AE; Lyra ML; Melo WGP; Andrade LE; Palacios-Rodriguez P; Prado BM; Haddad CFB; Pupo MT; Lopes NP; |
| Address: | "Faculdade de Ciencias Farmaceuticas de Ribeirao Preto, Universidade de Sao Paulo, 14040-903 Ribeirao Preto, SP, Brazil; andresbrunetti@gmail.com npelopes@fcfrp.usp.br. Departamento de Zoologia e Centro de Aquicultura, Instituto de Biociencias, Universidade Estadual Paulista, 13506-900 Rio Claro, SP, Brazil. Faculdade de Ciencias Farmaceuticas de Ribeirao Preto, Universidade de Sao Paulo, 14040-903 Ribeirao Preto, SP, Brazil. Departamento de Ciencias Biologicas, Universidad de los Andes, AA4976 Bogota DC, Colombia" |
| ISSN/ISBN: | 1091-6490 (Electronic) 0027-8424 (Print) 0027-8424 (Linking) |
| Abstract: | "Amphibians are known to possess a wide variety of compounds stored in their skin glands. While significant progress has been made in understanding the chemical diversity and biological relevance of alkaloids, amines, steroids, and peptides, most aspects of the odorous secretions are completely unknown. In this study, we examined sexual variations in the volatile profile from the skin of the tree frog Boana prasina and combined culture and culture-independent methods to investigate if microorganisms might be a source of these compounds. We found that sesquiterpenes, thioethers, and methoxypyrazines are major contributors to the observed sex differences. We also observed that each sex has a distinct profile of methoxypyrazines, and that the chemical origin of these compounds can be traced to a Pseudomonas sp. strain isolated from the frog's skin. This symbiotic bacterium was present in almost all individuals examined from different sites and was maintained in captive conditions, supporting its significance as the source of methoxypyrazines in these frogs. Our results highlight the potential relevance of bacteria as a source of chemical signals in amphibians and contribute to increasing our understanding of the role that symbiotic associations have in animals" |
| Keywords: | Animals;Animals Anura *Bacteria/classification Biodiversity Female Male Sex Factors Skin/*microbiology *Symbiosis Volatile Organic Compounds amphibia bacterial community diversity chemical ecology smells; |
| Notes: | "MedlineBrunetti, Andres E Lyra, Mariana L Melo, Weilan G P Andrade, Laura E Palacios-Rodriguez, Pablo Prado, Barbara M Haddad, Celio F B Pupo, Monica T Lopes, Norberto P eng Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't 2019/01/24 Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2019 Feb 5; 116(6):2124-2129. doi: 10.1073/pnas.1806834116. Epub 2019 Jan 22" |
