A<i>Drosophila</i>male pheromone affects female sexual receptivity

Grillet, Micheline; Dartevelle, Laurence; Ferveur, Jean‐François

doi:10.1098/rspb.2005.3332

Cited by 141 publications

(145 citation statements)

References 67 publications

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“…We found similar age-dependent trends in many CHC from Canton-S and Fv males, and seven compounds reached statistical significance in both strains [nC21, 9-C23:1, 7-T, 2-MeC 24 and 2-MeC 28 from GC/MS; C 20 H 38 O 2 (cVA) and C 23 H 44 O from LDI-MS] (Fig.2). The compound 7-T is a known pheromone, and we found it to decrease significantly with age (Ferveur and Sureau, 1996;Grillet et al, 2006). Another prevalent compound, 7-P, exhibited a significant increase with age.…”

Section: Results and Discussion Aging Robustly Alters Chc Profiles Inmentioning

confidence: 78%

Aging modulates cuticular hydrocarbons and sexual attractiveness inDrosophila melanogaster

Kuo

Yew

Fedina

et al. 2012

Journal of Experimental Biology

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SUMMARY Attractiveness is a major component of sexual selection that is dependent on sexual characteristics, such as pheromone production, which often reflect an individual’s fitness and reproductive potential. Aging is a process that results in a steady decline in survival and reproductive output, yet little is known about its effect on specific aspects of attractiveness. In this report we asked how aging impacts pheromone production and sexual attractiveness in Drosophila melanogaster. Evidence suggests that key pheromones in Drosophila are produced as cuticular hydrocarbons (CHC), whose functions in attracting mates and influencing behavior have been widely studied. We employed gas chromatography/mass spectrometry and laser desorption/ionization mass spectrometry to show that the composition of D. melanogaster CHC is significantly affected by aging in both sexes and that these changes are robust to different genetic backgrounds. Aging affected the relative levels of many individual CHC, and it shifted overall hydrocarbon profiles to favor compounds with longer chain lengths. We also show that the observed aging-related changes in CHC profiles are responsible for a significant reduction in sexual attractiveness. These studies illuminate causal links among pheromones, aging and attractiveness and suggest that CHC production may be an honest indicator of animal health and fertility.

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Section: Results and Discussion Aging Robustly Alters Chc Profiles Inmentioning

confidence: 78%

Aging modulates cuticular hydrocarbons and sexual attractiveness inDrosophila melanogaster

Kuo

Yew

Fedina

et al. 2012

Journal of Experimental Biology

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“…This glomerulus is implicated in the perception of cis-vaccenyl acetate (45,46), a male-specific volatile pheromone produced in the EjB (47), modulating sexual behavior (18,29). Both trichoid and basiconic sensilla could also respond to other sex pheromones (43,48), such as 7-T (a malepredominant CH) thought to be perceived by the antenna (49).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Expression of a desaturase gene,desat1, in neural and nonneural tissues separately affects perception and emission of sex pheromones inDrosophila

Bousquet

Nojima

Houot

et al. 2011

Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A.

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101

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Animals often use sex pheromones for mate choice and reproduction. As for other signals, the genetic control of the emission and perception of sex pheromones must be tightly coadapted, and yet we still have no worked-out example of how these two aspects interact. Most models suggest that emission and perception rely on separate genetic control. We have identified a Drosophila melanogaster gene, desat1, that is involved in both the emission and the perception of sex pheromones. To explore the mechanism whereby these two aspects of communication interact, we investigated the relationship between the molecular structure, tissue-specific expression, and pheromonal phenotypes of desat1. We characterized the five desat1 transcripts-all of which yielded the same desaturase protein-and constructed transgenes with the different desat1 putative regulatory regions. Each region was used to target reporter transgenes with either (i) the fluorescent GFP marker to reveal desat1 tissue expression, or (ii) the desat1 RNAi sequence to determine the effects of genetic down-regulation on pheromonal phenotypes. We found that desat1 is expressed in a variety of neural and nonneural tissues, most of which are involved in reproductive functions. Our results suggest that distinct desat1 putative regulatory regions independently drive the expression in nonneural and in neural cells, such that the emission and perception of sex pheromones are precisely coordinated in this species.sensory communication | pleiotropy | hydrocarbon | oenocyte

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“…This would require that females can detect males who have previously been exposed to rivals and respond in a way that causes an increase in mating duration. Possible mechanisms include the detection by females of differences in a male's odour profile [32], stress responses or behaviour. The benefits to females of extending mating duration have not yet been determined but could include increased productivity and decreased overall mating frequency.…”

Section: Flexibility In Responses To Rivalsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Individual plastic responses by males to rivals reveal mismatches between behaviour and fitness outcomes

et al. 2012

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Plasticity in behaviour is of fundamental significance when environments are variable. Such plasticity is particularly important in the context of rapid changes in the socio-sexual environment. Males can exhibit adaptive plastic responses to variation in the overall level of reproductive competition. However, the extent of behavioural flexibility within individuals, and the degree to which rapidly changing plastic responses map onto fitness are unknown. We addressed this by determining the behaviour and fitness profiles of individual Drosophila melanogaster males subjected to up to three episodes of exposure to rivals or no rivals, in all combinations. Behaviour (mating duration) was remarkably sensitive to the level of competition and fully reversible, suggesting that substantial costs arise from the incorrect expression of even highly flexible behaviour. However, changes in mating duration matched fitness outcomes (offspring number) only in scenarios in which males experienced zero then high competition. Following the removal of competition, mating duration, but not offspring production, decreased to below control levels. This indicates that the benefit of increasing reproductive investment when encountering rivals may exceed that of decreasing investment when rivals disappear. Such asymmetric fitness benefits and mismatches with behavioural responses are expected to exert strong selection on the evolution of plasticity.

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ADrosophilamale pheromone affects female sexual receptivity

Cited by 141 publications

References 67 publications

Aging modulates cuticular hydrocarbons and sexual attractiveness inDrosophila melanogaster

Aging modulates cuticular hydrocarbons and sexual attractiveness inDrosophila melanogaster

Expression of a desaturase gene,desat1, in neural and nonneural tissues separately affects perception and emission of sex pheromones inDrosophila

Individual plastic responses by males to rivals reveal mismatches between behaviour and fitness outcomes

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