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Nat Commun

Title:		Sex pheromone biosynthetic pathways are conserved between moths and the butterfly Bicyclus anynana
Author(s):		Lienard MA; Wang HL; Lassance JM; Lofstedt C;
Address:		"1] Department of Biology; Pheromone Group, Lund University, Lund SE-22362, Sweden [2] Department of Organismic and Evolutionary Biology, Harvard University, Cambridge, Massachusetts 02138, USA. Department of Biology; Pheromone Group, Lund University, Lund SE-22362, Sweden. 1] Department of Biology; Pheromone Group, Lund University, Lund SE-22362, Sweden [2] Department of Organismic and Evolutionary Biology, Harvard University, Cambridge, Massachusetts 02138, USA [3]. 1] Department of Biology; Pheromone Group, Lund University, Lund SE-22362, Sweden [2]"
Journal Title:		Nat Commun
Year:		2014
Volume:		20140527
Issue:
Page Number:		3957 -
DOI:		10.1038/ncomms4957
ISSN/ISBN:		2041-1723 (Electronic) 2041-1723 (Linking)
Abstract:		"Although phylogenetically nested within the moths, butterflies have diverged extensively in a number of life history traits. Whereas moths rely greatly on chemical signals, visual advertisement is the hallmark of mate finding in butterflies. In the context of courtship, however, male chemical signals are widespread in both groups although they likely have multiple evolutionary origins. Here, we report that in males of the butterfly Bicyclus anynana, courtship scents are produced de novo via biosynthetic pathways shared with females of many moth species. We show that two of the pheromone components that play a major role in mate choice, namely the (Z)-9-tetradecenol and hexadecanal, are produced through the activity of a fatty acyl Delta11-desaturase and two specialized alcohol-forming fatty acyl reductases. Our study provides the first evidence of conservation and sharing of ancestral genetic modules for the production of FA-derived pheromones over a long evolutionary timeframe thereby reconciling mate communication in moths and butterflies"
Keywords:		"Animals Biosynthetic Pathways/*genetics Butterflies/*genetics DNA, Complementary/genetics Fatty Acid Desaturases/metabolism Fatty Acids/biosynthesis Female Genes, Insect Male Molecular Sequence Data Moths/*genetics Phylogeny Sequence Homology, Amino Acid;"
Notes:		"MedlineLienard, Marjorie A Wang, Hong-Lei Lassance, Jean-Marc Lofstedt, Christer eng Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't England 2014/05/28 Nat Commun. 2014 May 27; 5:3957. doi: 10.1038/ncomms4957"