| Autor: |
Jacqueline SR Chin, Shane R Ellis, Huong T Pham, Stephen J Blanksby, Kenji Mori, Qi Ling Koh, William J Etges, Joanne Y Yew |
| Jazyk: |
angličtina |
| Rok vydání: |
2014 |
| Předmět: |
|
| Zdroj: |
eLife, Vol 3 (2014) |
| Druh dokumentu: |
article |
| ISSN: |
2050-084X |
| DOI: |
10.7554/eLife.01751 |
| Popis: |
Pheromones play an important role in the behavior, ecology, and evolution of many organisms. The structure of many insect pheromones typically consists of a hydrocarbon backbone, occasionally modified with various functional oxygen groups. Here we show that sex-specific triacylclyerides (TAGs) are broadly conserved across the subgenus Drosophila in 11 species and represent a novel class of pheromones that has been largely overlooked. In desert-adapted drosophilids, 13 different TAGs are secreted exclusively by males from the ejaculatory bulb, transferred to females during mating, and function synergistically to inhibit courtship from other males. Sex-specific TAGs are comprised of at least one short branched tiglic acid and a long linear fatty acyl component, an unusual structural motif that has not been reported before in other natural products. The diversification of chemical cues used by desert-adapted Drosophila as pheromones may be related to their specialized diet of fermenting cacti. |
| Databáze: |
Directory of Open Access Journals |
| Externí odkaz: |
|
