Regulation of volatile and non-volatile pheromone attractants depends upon male social status

Thoß, Michaela; Luzynski, Kenneth C.; Enk, Viktoria; Razzazi-Fazeli, Ebrahim; Kwak, Jae; Ortner, Irene; Penn, Dustin J.

doi:10.1038/s41598-018-36887-y

Cited by 33 publications

(85 citation statements)

References 98 publications

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“…Darcin (MUP20) is a male‐biased protein that is highly expressed in territorial male M. m. domesticus (Roberts et al, ) and M. m. musculus (Thoß et al, ). Our data support these previous studies.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Males are reported to express both genes while females do not (Mudge et al, 2008). Furthermore, higher status males increase expression of Mup20 relative to other MUPs in their urine (Thoß et al, 2019). If semiochemicals are specific to a given species or population, they may also encode information about the species identity or population of origin (Mullen, Mendelson, Schal, & Shaw, 2007).…”

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confidence: 99%

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Evolutionary patterns of major urinary protein scent signals in house mice and relatives

2019

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Scent marks are important mediators of territorial behaviour and sexual selection, especially among mammals. The evolution of compounds used in scent marks has the potential to inform our understanding of signal evolution in relation to social and sexual selection. A major challenge in studies of chemical communication is that the link between semiochemical compounds and genetic changes is often unclear. The major urinary proteins (MUPs) of house mice provide information on sex, status and individual identity. Importantly, MUPs are a direct protein product of genes, providing a clear link between genotype and phenotype. Here, we examine the evolution of urinary protein signals among house mice and relatives by examining the sequences and patterns of mRNA expression of Mup genes related to urinary scent marks. MUP patterns have evolved among mouse species both by gene duplication and variation in expression. Notably, protein scent signals that are male specific in well‐studied inbred laboratory strains vary in sex‐specificity among species. Our data reveal that individual identity signals in MUPs evolved prior to 0.35 million years ago and have rapidly diversified through recombining a modest number of amino acid variants. Amino acid variants are much more common on the exterior of the protein where they could interact with vomeronasal receptors, suggesting that chemosensory perception may have played a major role in shaping MUP diversity. These data highlight diverse processes and pressures shaping scent signals, and suggest new avenues for using wild mice to probe the evolution of signals and signal processing.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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confidence: 99%

Evolutionary patterns of major urinary protein scent signals in house mice and relatives

2019

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“…A recent study on wild-derived house mice living in seminatural conditions found that once males acquired a territory and became socially dominant, they increased the production of some (MUP20 and HMH), but not other pheromones (e.g. SBT, DHB, farnesene), whereas males did not reduce pheromone excretion after they became subordinates 24 . Estrous females were more attracted to the urinary scent of dominant, territorial males than subordinates, and variation in protein concentration of male urine had no effect on female preferences when male social status was controlled.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 96%

Pheromones that Correlate with Reproductive Success in Competitive Conditions

Luzynski

Nicolakis

Marconi

et al. 2021

Preprint

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The major urinary proteins (MUPs) of house mice (Mus musculus) bind and stabilize the release of pheromones and other volatile organic compounds (VOCs) from urinary scent marks, which mediate chemical communication. Social status influences MUP and VOC excretion, and the urinary scent of dominant males is attractive to females. Urinary pheromones influence the sexual behavior and physiology of conspecifics, and yet it is not known whether they also affect reproductive success. We monitored the excretion of urinary protein and VOCs of wild-derived house mice living in large seminatural enclosures to compare the sexes and to test how these compounds correlate with reproductive success. Among males, urinary protein concentration and VOC expression correlated with reproductive success and social status. Territorial dominance also correlated with reproductive success in both sexes; but among females, no urinary compounds were found to correlate with social status or reproductive success. Notably, the large sex differences in chemosensory compounds found in laboratory studies were significantly lower when the mice lived in seminatural conditions. These findings provide novel evidence for chemical signals that correlate with male reproductive success of house mice living in competitive conditions.

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“…Alternately, status may play a role in the scent, as only dominant wolves have been observed to engage in ground scratching behaviour 51 . In house mice ( Mus musculu s) receptive females showed a preference for the scent from dominant males over the scent of subordinate males 52 .…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Conspecific recognition of pedal scent in domestic dogs

McClanahan

Rosell

2020

Sci Rep

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Carnivores rely heavily on scent to communicate with conspecifics. Scent glands located on the underside of the feet provide an especially efficient way of leaving a scent trail. Although domestic dogs (Canis familiaris) are well-known for their olfactory abilities and scent marking behaviours, their use of pedal scent for communication remains unknown. We studied the reaction of intact dogs of both sexes to male and female pedal scent as well as a control sample of scent taken from the ground, using sniffing time and nostril usage as an indicator of interest level and emotional valence. In male subjects, only the sniffing duration for other males differed from the control samples, with no clear difference detected between male and female scent. Females showed no difference in the sniffing duration for any sample type. Conversely, male nostril use did not differ between the sample types, whereas females demonstrated a right nostril bias when sniffing the scent from other females and a left nostril bias when sniffing the control. We have shown that dogs recognize scent taken from the pedal glands from other dogs, although the extent to which they use this information to determine the sex of the scent depositor remains unclear.

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Regulation of volatile and non-volatile pheromone attractants depends upon male social status

Cited by 33 publications

References 98 publications

Evolutionary patterns of major urinary protein scent signals in house mice and relatives

Evolutionary patterns of major urinary protein scent signals in house mice and relatives

Pheromones that Correlate with Reproductive Success in Competitive Conditions

Conspecific recognition of pedal scent in domestic dogs

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