Sex-specific triacylglycerides are widely conserved in Drosophila and mediate mating behavior

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 b...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:eLife 2014-03, Vol.3, p.e01751-e01751
Main Authors: Chin, Jacqueline S R, Ellis, Shane R, Pham, Huong T, Blanksby, Stephen J, Mori, Kenji, Koh, Qi Ling, Etges, William J, Yew, Joanne Y
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Age
Animal reproduction
Animals
behavior
Biochemistry
Biological Evolution
Chemical stimuli
Courtship
Crotonates - chemistry
Crotonates - metabolism
D. arizonae
D. mojavensis
Delia repleta
Desert Climate
Drosophila
Drosophila melanogaster - chemistry
Drosophila melanogaster - classification
Drosophila melanogaster - physiology
Drosophila mojavensis
Ecology
Female
Females
Insects
laser desorption ionzation
Lipids
Male
Males
mass spectrometry
Mating behavior
Molecular Structure
Natural products
ozone-induced dissociation
Pheromones
Pheromones - biosynthesis
Pheromones - chemistry
Phylogeny
Reproduction - physiology
Sex Characteristics
Sexual Behavior, Animal - physiology
Sophophora
Triglycerides - biosynthesis
Triglycerides - chemistry
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Summary: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.
ISSN:2050-084X
2050-084X
DOI:10.7554/elife.01751