| Title: | Regulation of volatile and non-volatile pheromone attractants depends upon male social status |
| Author(s): | Thoss M; Luzynski KC; Enk VM; Razzazi-Fazeli E; Kwak J; Ortner I; Penn DJ; |
| Address: | "Department of Integrative Biology and Evolution, Konrad Lorenz Institute of Ethology, University of Veterinary Medicine, Vienna, Austria. Proteomics Unit, VetCORE Facility for Research, University of Veterinary Medicine, Vienna, Austria. Department of Integrative Biology and Evolution, Research Institute of Wildlife Ecology, University of Veterinary Medicine, Vienna, Austria. International Flavors & Fragrances Inc., Union Beach, New Jersey, USA. Institute of Statistics and Mathematical Methods in Economics, TU Wien, Vienna, Austria. Department of Mathematics, Statistics Section, KU Leuven, Leuven, Belgium. Department of Integrative Biology and Evolution, Konrad Lorenz Institute of Ethology, University of Veterinary Medicine, Vienna, Austria. dustin.penn@vetmeduni.ac.at" |
| DOI: | 10.1038/s41598-018-36887-y |
| ISSN/ISBN: | 2045-2322 (Electronic) 2045-2322 (Linking) |
| Abstract: | "We investigated the regulation of chemical signals of house mice living in seminatural social conditions. We found that male mice more than doubled the excretion of major urinary proteins (MUPs) after they acquired a territory and become socially dominant. MUPs bind and stabilize the release of volatile pheromone ligands, and some MUPs exhibit pheromonal properties themselves. We conducted olfactory assays and found that female mice were more attracted to the scent of dominant than subordinate males when they were in estrus. Yet, when male status was controlled, females were not attracted to urine with high MUP concentration, despite being comparable to levels of dominant males. To determine which compounds influence female attraction, we conducted additional analyses and found that dominant males differentially upregulated the excretion of particular MUPs, including the pheromone MUP20 (darcin), and a volatile pheromone that influences female reproductive physiology and behavior. Our findings show that once male house mice become territorial and socially dominant, they upregulate the amount and types of excreted MUPs, which increases the intensities of volatiles and the attractiveness of their urinary scent to sexually receptive females" |
| Keywords: | *Animal Communication Animals Female Male Mice Pheromones/*metabolism Reproduction/*physiology *Social Behavior Volatile Organic Compounds/*metabolism; |
| Notes: | "MedlineThoss, M Luzynski, K C Enk, V M Razzazi-Fazeli, E Kwak, J Ortner, I Penn, D J eng England 2019/01/27 Sci Rep. 2019 Jan 24; 9(1):489. doi: 10.1038/s41598-018-36887-y" |
