Drosophila Cuticular Hydrocarbons Revisited: Mating Status Alters Cuticular Profiles

Abstract

Most living organisms use pheromones for inter-individual communication. In Drosophila melanogaster flies, several pheromones perceived either by contact/at a short distance (cuticular hydrocarbons, CHs), or at a longer distance (cis-vaccenyl acetate, cVA), affect courtship and mating behaviours. However, it has not previously been possible to precisely identify all potential pheromonal compounds and simultaneously monitor their variation on a time scale. To overcome this limitation, we combined Solid Phase Micro-Extraction with gas-chromatography coupled with mass-spectrometry. This allowed us (i) to identify 59 cuticular compounds, including 17 new CHs; (ii) to precisely quantify the amount of each compound that could be detected by another fly, and (iii) to measure the variation of these substances as a function of aging and mating. Sex-specific variation appeared with age, while mating affected cuticular compounds in both sexes with three possible patterns: variation was (i) reciprocal in the two sexes, suggesting a passive mechanical transfer during mating, (ii) parallel in both sexes, such as for cVA which strikingly appeared during mating, or (iii) unilateral, presumably as a result of sexual interaction. We provide a complete reassessment of all Drosophila CHs and suggest that the chemical conversation between male and female flies is far more complex than is generally accepted. We conclude that focusing on individual compounds will not provide a satisfactory understanding of the evolution and function of chemical communication in Drosophila.

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

“…Analyses were performed with a Varian CP3380 chromatograph, equipped with a Cp-sil 25-m capillary column with hydrogen as the carrier gas. All of the D. melanogaster predominant CHs have already been identified and characterized (20,59). We analyzed 24 CHs in female flies and 14 in male flies, all with a chain length ranging between 23 and 29 carbons (26).…”

Pheromones mediating copulation and attraction in Drosophila

“…Although the CHC profile of D. melanogaster has been characterized by several analytical techniques (10)(11)(12)(13)(14), it is not yet complete (3). In the present study, we used thermal desorption-gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (TD-GC-MS) to determine whether flies harbor so far unidentified CHCs.…”

Disentangling the effect of insemination and ovary development on the cuticular hydrocarbon profile in the bumblebee Bombus terrestris (Hymenoptera: Apidae)

“…In Drosophila melanogaster , mating alters the CHC profiles of females (Everaerts et al 2010). In contrast, studies in queenless ponerine ants, where individuals of all different statuses of fertility can occur naturally, did not find any effect of mating Effect of insemination and ovary development on bumblebee CHC on the CHC profile (e.g., Peeters et al 1999;Liebig et al 2000;Heinze et al 2002).…”