Fatty Acids from Pool Lipids as Possible Precursors of the Male Marking Pheromone in Bumblebees

Kofroňová, Edita; Nekola, Adam; Cvačka, Josef; Kindl, Jiří; Valterová, Irena

doi:10.3390/molecules19022330

Cited by 4 publications

(3 citation statements)

References 36 publications

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“…Macrocytic fat tissue mainly contains triglycerides and it is conceivable that these may serve as a template for the fatty acid esters identified in the strands. At least in insects, these storage fats serve as precursor molecules for pheromone production and are associated with signalling tissues [42][43][44], thus a similar function may be attributed within our study species.…”

Section: (A) Fat Tissue As Signalling Organmentioning

confidence: 99%

Species- and sex-specific chemical composition from an internal gland-like tissue of an African frog family

Schäfer,

Sydow,

Schauer

et al. 2024

Proc. R. Soc. B.

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Intraspecific chemical communication in frogs is understudied and the few published cases are limited to externally visible and male-specific breeding glands. Frogs of the family Odontobatrachidae, a West African endemic complex of five morphologically cryptic species, have large, fatty gland-like strands along their lower mandible. We investigated the general anatomy of this gland-like strand and analysed its chemical composition. We found the strand to be present in males and females of all species. The strand varies in markedness, with well-developed strands usually found in reproductively active individuals. The strands are situated under particularly thin skin sections, the vocal sac in male frogs and a respective area in females. Gas-chromatography/mass spectrometry and multivariate analysis revealed that the strands contain sex- and species-specific chemical profiles, which are consistent across geographically distant populations. The profiles varied between reproductive and non-reproductive individuals. These results indicate that the mandibular strands in the Odontobatrachidae comprise a so far overlooked structure (potentially a gland) that most likely plays a role in the mating and/or breeding behaviour of the five Odontobatrachus species. Our results highlight the relevance of multimodal signalling in anurans, and indicate that chemical communication in frogs may not be restricted to sexually dimorphic, apparent skin glands.

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Section: (A) Fat Tissue As Signalling Organmentioning

confidence: 99%

Species- and sex-specific chemical composition from an internal gland-like tissue of an African frog family

Schäfer,

Sydow,

Schauer

et al. 2024

Proc. R. Soc. B.

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“…Triglycerides in the fat body of males from 11 bumblebee species were studied by Kofroňová et al ( 2009 ). The composition was found to differ between species.…”

Section: Sterolsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Sterol and lipid metabolism in bees

Furse,

Koch,

Wright

et al. 2023

Metabolomics

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Background Bees provide essential pollination services for many food crops and are critical in supporting wild plant diversity. However, the dietary landscape of pollen food sources for social and solitary bees has changed because of agricultural intensification and habitat loss. For this reason, understanding the basic nutrient metabolism and meeting the nutritional needs of bees is becoming an urgent requirement for agriculture and conservation. We know that pollen is the principal source of dietary fat and sterols for pollinators, but a precise understanding of what the essential nutrients are and how much is needed is not yet clear. Sterols are key for producing the hormones that control development and may be present in cell membranes, where fatty-acid-containing species are important structural and signalling molecules (phospholipids) or to supply, store and distribute energy (glycerides). Aim of the review In this critical review, we examine the current general understanding of sterol and lipid metabolism of social and solitary bees from a variety of literature sources and discuss implications for bee health. Key scientific concepts of review We found that while eusocial bees are resilient to some dietary variation in sterol supply the scope for this is limited. The evidence of both de novo lipogenesis and a dietary need for particular fatty acids (FAs) shows that FA metabolism in insects is analogous to mammals but with distinct features. Bees rely on their dietary intake for essential sterols and lipids in a way that is dependent upon pollen availability.

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“…In contrast to de novo biosynthesis of pheromones in the moth PG, MP biosynthesis in bumblebees is supplied partially by transport of MP precursors from the FB, presumably in the form of diacylglycerols (DAGs; Žáček et al ., ). In particular, the highly similar composition of FA pools in the FB and LG in some bumblebee species points to a major role for FA transport from the FB to the LG (Cvačka et al ., ; Kofroňová et al ., ). However, the relative contribution of alternative fatty‐acyl‐supplying pathways to MP biosynthesis is not known (Žáček et al ., ).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 97%

Exploring complex pheromone biosynthetic processes in the bumblebee male labial gland by RNA sequencing

Buček

Brabcová

Vogel

et al. 2016

Insect Molecular Biology

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Male marking pheromones (MPs) are used by the majority of bumblebee species (Hymenoptera: Apidae), including a commercially important greenhouse pollinator, the buff-tailed bumblebee (Bombus terrestris), to attract conspecific females. MP biosynthetic processes in the cephalic part of the bumblebee male labial gland (LG) are of extraordinary complexity, involving enzymes of fatty acid and isoprenoid biosynthesis, which jointly produce more than 50 compounds. We employed a differential transcriptomic approach to identify candidate genes involved in MP biosynthesis by sequencing Bombus terrestris LG and fat body (FB) transcriptomes. We identified 12 454 abundantly expressed gene products (reads per kilobase of exon model per million mapped reads value > 1) that had significant hits in the GenBank nonredundant database. Of these, 876 were upregulated in the LG (> 4-fold difference). We identified more than 140 candidate genes potentially involved in MP biosynthesis, including esterases, fatty acid reductases, lipases, enzymes involved in limited fatty acid chain shortening, neuropeptide receptors and enzymes involved in biosynthesis of triacylglycerols, isoprenoids and fatty acids. For selected candidates, we confirmed their abundant expression in LG using quantitative real-time reverse transcription-PCR (qRT-PCR). Our study shows that the Bombus terrestris LG transcriptome reflects both fatty acid and isoprenoid MP biosynthetic processes and identifies rational gene targets for future studies to disentangle the molecular basis of MP biosynthesis. Additionally, LG and FB transcriptomes enrich the available transcriptomic resources for Bombus terrestris.

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Fatty Acids from Pool Lipids as Possible Precursors of the Male Marking Pheromone in Bumblebees

Cited by 4 publications

References 36 publications

Species- and sex-specific chemical composition from an internal gland-like tissue of an African frog family

Species- and sex-specific chemical composition from an internal gland-like tissue of an African frog family

Sterol and lipid metabolism in bees

Exploring complex pheromone biosynthetic processes in the bumblebee male labial gland by RNA sequencing

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