| Title: | Cuticular Hydrocarbon Pheromones for Social Behavior and Their Coding in the Ant Antenna |
| Author(s): | Sharma KR; Enzmann BL; Schmidt Y; Moore D; Jones GR; Parker J; Berger SL; Reinberg D; Zwiebel LJ; Breit B; Liebig J; Ray A; |
| Address: | "Department of Entomology, University of California, Riverside, CA 92521, USA. School of Life Sciences, Arizona State University, Tempe, AZ 85287, USA. Institut fur Organische Chemie, Albert-Ludwigs-Universitat Freiburg, Albertstrasse 21, 79104 Freiburg im Breisgau, Germany. Chemical Ecology Group, School of Physical and Geographical Sciences, Lennard-Jones Laboratory, Keele University, Staffordshire ST5 5GB, UK. Departments of Cell and Developmental Biology, Genetics, and Biology, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA 19104, USA. Department of Molecular Pharmacology and Biochemistry, New York University School of Medicine, New York, NY 10016, USA. Department of Biological Sciences, Vanderbilt University, Nashville, TN 37235, USA. Department of Entomology, University of California, Riverside, CA 92521, USA. Electronic address: anand.ray@ucr.edu" |
| DOI: | 10.1016/j.celrep.2015.07.031 |
| Abstract: | "The sophisticated organization of eusocial insect societies is largely based on the regulation of complex behaviors by hydrocarbon pheromones present on the cuticle. We used electrophysiology to investigate the detection of cuticular hydrocarbons (CHCs) by female-specific olfactory sensilla basiconica on the antenna of Camponotus floridanus ants through the utilization of one of the largest family of odorant receptors characterized so far in insects. These sensilla, each of which contains multiple olfactory receptor neurons, are differentially sensitive to CHCs and allow them to be classified into three broad groups that collectively detect every hydrocarbon tested, including queen and worker-enriched CHCs. This broad-spectrum sensitivity is conserved in a related species, Camponotus laevigatus, allowing these ants to detect CHCs from both nestmates and non-nestmates. Behavioral assays demonstrate that these ants are excellent at discriminating CHCs detected by the antenna, including enantiomers of a candidate queen pheromone that regulates the reproductive division of labor" |
| Keywords: | Animals Ants/metabolism/physiology Arthropod Antennae/cytology/metabolism/*physiology Female Hydrocarbons/analysis/*pharmacology Male *Olfactory Perception Olfactory Receptor Neurons/drug effects/metabolism/physiology Pheromones/chemistry/*metabolism/phar; |
| Notes: | "MedlineSharma, Kavita R Enzmann, Brittany L Schmidt, Yvonne Moore, Dani Jones, Graeme R Parker, Jane Berger, Shelley L Reinberg, Danny Zwiebel, Laurence J Breit, Bernhard Liebig, Jurgen Ray, Anandasankar eng Howard Hughes Medical Institute/ Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't 2015/08/19 Cell Rep. 2015 Aug 25; 12(8):1261-71. doi: 10.1016/j.celrep.2015.07.031. Epub 2015 Aug 13" |
