Mate Recognition: Should Fly Stay or Should Fly Go?

Mehren, Jennifer E.

doi:10.1016/j.cub.2007.02.014

Cited by 6 publications

(2 citation statements)

References 20 publications

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“…Since As these CHs have a very reduced, or little or no volatility, they are mostly perceived by contact with the gustatory hairs located on the tarsi and proboscises of the fly [36], [42], [43], [44]. Several studies have hypothesized that Drosophila can detect at a small distance – with their olfactory organs –at small distances– – the CHs of conspecifics [38], [45], [46], [47]. However, their the volatility of CHs has never been shown, and it is not known whether D. melanogaster flies could can disperse CHs on the food substrate and/or into the surrounding air.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Volatile Drosophila Cuticular Pheromones Are Affected by Social but Not Sexual Experience

2012

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Recognition of conspecifics and mates is based on a variety of sensory cues that are specific to the species, sex and social status of each individual. The courtship and mating activity of Drosophila melanogaster flies is thought to depend on the olfactory perception of a male-specific volatile pheromone, cis-vaccenyl acetate (cVA), and the gustatory perception of cuticular hydrocarbons (CHs), some of which are sexually dimorphic. Using two complementary sampling methods (headspace Solid Phase Micro-Extraction [SPME] and solvent extraction) coupled with GC-MS analysis, we measured the dispersion of pheromonal CHs in the air and on the substrate around the fly. We also followed the variations in CHs that were induced by social and sexual interactions. We found that all CHs present on the fly body were deposited as a thin layer on the substrate, whereas only a few of these molecules were also detected in the air. Moreover, social experience during early adult development and in mature flies strongly affected male volatile CHs but not cVA, whereas sexual interaction only had a moderate influence on dispersed CHs. Our study suggests that, in addition to their role as contact cues, CHs can influence fly behavior at a distance and that volatile, deposited and body pheromonal CHs participate in a three-step recognition of the chemical identity and social status of insects.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Volatile Drosophila Cuticular Pheromones Are Affected by Social but Not Sexual Experience

2012

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“…S4) and contains seven odorant receptors (ORs) whose closest match to the proteome of the fruit fly Drosophila melanogaster is OR67d. The single copy of this gene in Drosophila serves as the pheromone receptor for cis-vaccenyl acetate which mediates both social aggregation and female sexual receptivity (24), tempting speculation that these genes might play similar yet species-specific roles in M and S.…”

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confidence: 99%

Widespread Divergence Between Incipient Anopheles gambiae Species Revealed by Whole Genome Sequences

Lawniczak

Emrich

Holloway

et al. 2010

Science

252

254

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The Afrotropical mosquito Anopheles gambiae sensu stricto (A. gambiae), a major vector of malaria, is currently undergoing speciation into the M and S molecular forms. These forms have diverged in larval ecology and reproductive behavior through unknown genetic mechanisms, despite considerable levels of hybridization. Previous genome-wide scans using gene-based microarrays uncovered divergence between M and S that was largely confined to gene-poor pericentromeric regions, prompting a speciation-with-ongoing-gene-flow model that implicated only ~3% of the genome near centromeres in the speciation process. Here, based on the complete M and S genome sequences, we report widespread and heterogeneous genomic divergence inconsistent with appreciable levels of inter-form gene flow, suggesting a more advanced speciation process and greater challenges to identify genes critical to initiating that process.

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Sex Pheromone of the American Warble Fly, Dermatobia hominis: The Role of Cuticular Hydrocarbons

2008

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Chemical communication between adults of the American warble fly, Dermatobia hominis (Diptera: Oestridae), was investigated by electroantennography and behavioral bioassays. Significant electroantennographic responses were recorded from both sexes to hexane-soluble cuticular lipids from either sex. Olfactometer tests indicated an attraction between males and females, and between females. Copulatory behavior of males with a white knotted string treated with female extract confirmed production of a sexual stimulant by females. Such behavior was not observed in tests with male extract, demonstrating that the pheromone acts also as a sex recognition factor. Cuticular hydrocarbons of sexually mature female and male D. hominis were identified by Gas chromatography-mass spectrometry and consist of a mixture of saturated n-, monomethyl-, and dimethylalkanes in both sexes. Sexual dimorphism was characterized by a higher relative concentration of dimethylalkanes in males and the presence of alkenes only in females.

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Mate Recognition: Should Fly Stay or Should Fly Go?

Abstract: Recent studies have shown that male fruit flies use close-range olfactory cues to assess the status of potential mating partners. The presence of a volatile, male-derived pheromone can suppress the default male behavioral state of courting females.

Cited by 6 publications

References 20 publications

Volatile Drosophila Cuticular Pheromones Are Affected by Social but Not Sexual Experience

Volatile Drosophila Cuticular Pheromones Are Affected by Social but Not Sexual Experience

Widespread Divergence Between Incipient Anopheles gambiae Species Revealed by Whole Genome Sequences

Sex Pheromone of the American Warble Fly, Dermatobia hominis: The Role of Cuticular Hydrocarbons

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