| Title: | Large-scale characterization of sex pheromone communication systems in Drosophila |
| Author(s): | Khallaf MA; Cui R; Weissflog J; Erdogmus M; Svatos A; Dweck HKM; Valenzano DR; Hansson BS; Knaden M; |
| Address: | "Department of Evolutionary Neuroethology, Max Planck Institute for Chemical Ecology, Jena, Germany. mkhallaf@ice.mpg.de. Department of Zoology and Entomology, Faculty of Science, Assiut University, Assiut, Egypt. mkhallaf@ice.mpg.de. Department of Neuroscience, Max Delbruck Center for Molecular Medicine, Berlin, D-13122, Germany. mkhallaf@ice.mpg.de. Max Planck Institute for Biology of Ageing and CECAD Research Center at University of Cologne, Cologne, Germany. School of Ecology, Sun Yat-sen University, 135 Xingang West Road, Binjiang Road, Haizhu District, Guangdong Province, China. Group of Mass Spectrometry and Proteomics, Max Planck Institute for Chemical Ecology, Jena, Germany. Department of Evolutionary Neuroethology, Max Planck Institute for Chemical Ecology, Jena, Germany. Department of Molecular, Cellular, and Developmental Biology, Yale University, New Haven, CT, USA. Department of Evolutionary Neuroethology, Max Planck Institute for Chemical Ecology, Jena, Germany. mknaden@ice.mpg.de" |
| DOI: | 10.1038/s41467-021-24395-z |
| ISSN/ISBN: | 2041-1723 (Electronic) 2041-1723 (Linking) |
| Abstract: | "Insects use sex pheromones as a reproductive isolating mechanism to attract conspecifics and repel heterospecifics. Despite the profound knowledge of sex pheromones, little is known about the coevolutionary mechanisms and constraints on their production and detection. Using whole-genome sequences to infer the kinship among 99 drosophilids, we investigate how phylogenetic and chemical traits have interacted at a wide evolutionary timescale. Through a series of chemical syntheses and electrophysiological recordings, we identify 52 sex-specific compounds, many of which are detected via olfaction. Behavioral analyses reveal that many of the 43 male-specific compounds are transferred to the female during copulation and mediate female receptivity and/or male courtship inhibition. Measurement of phylogenetic signals demonstrates that sex pheromones and their cognate olfactory channels evolve rapidly and independently over evolutionary time to guarantee efficient intra- and inter-specific communication systems. Our results show how sexual isolation barriers between species can be reinforced by species-specific olfactory signals" |
| Keywords: | "Animals Biological Evolution *Communication Copulation/physiology Courtship Drosophila/*physiology Drosophila melanogaster/physiology Female Male Pheromones/*metabolism Phylogeny Sex Attractants/*physiology Sexual Behavior, Animal/physiology Smell/physiol;neuroscience;" |
| Notes: | "MedlineKhallaf, Mohammed A Cui, Rongfeng Weissflog, Jerrit Erdogmus, Maide Svatos, Ales Dweck, Hany K M Valenzano, Dario Riccardo Hansson, Bill S Knaden, Markus eng Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't England 2021/07/08 Nat Commun. 2021 Jul 6; 12(1):4165. doi: 10.1038/s41467-021-24395-z" |
