Drosophila cuticular hydrocarbons revisited: mating status alters cuticular profiles

• Published in: PloS one 2010-03, Vol.5 (3), p.e9607-e9607
• Main Authors: Everaerts, Claude, Farine, Jean-Pierre, Cobb, Matthew, Ferveur, Jean-François
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Acetic acid; Aging; Animal reproduction; Animals; Behavior; Chemical communication; Chromatography; Chromatography, Gas - methods; Communication; Conversation; Courtship; Cuticular hydrocarbons; Data analysis; Developmental Biology/Aging; Drosophila; Drosophila melanogaster; Drosophila melanogaster - metabolism; Ecology/Behavioral Ecology; Evolution (Biology); Evolutionary Biology/Animal Behavior; Evolutionary Biology/Sexual Behavior; Female; Females; Food and Nutrition; Gas chromatography; Gene Expression Regulation; Hexanes - chemistry; Hydrocarbons; Hydrocarbons - analysis; Hydrocarbons - chemistry; Insects; Life Sciences; Male; Males; Mass Spectrometry - methods; Perceptions; Pheromones; Pheromones - chemistry; Proteins; Reproducibility of Results; Sexual Behavior, Animal; Solid Phase Microextraction; Solvent extraction processes; Spectrometry; Variation
• ISSN: 1932-6203; 1932-6203
• DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0009607

Most living organisms use pheromones for inter-individual communication. In Drosophila melanogaster flies, several pheromones perceived either by contact/at a short distance (cuticular hydrocarbons, CHs), or at a longer distance (cis-vaccenyl acetate, cVA), affect courtship and mating behaviours. However, it has not previously been possible to precisely identify all potential pheromonal compounds and simultaneously monitor their variation on a time scale. To overcome this limitation, we combined Solid Phase Micro-Extraction with gas-chromatography coupled with mass-spectrometry. This allowed us (i) to identify 59 cuticular compounds, including 17 new CHs; (ii) to precisely quantify the amount of each compound that could be detected by another fly, and (iii) to measure the variation of these substances as a function of aging and mating. Sex-specific variation appeared with age, while mating affected cuticular compounds in both sexes with three possible patterns: variation was (i) reciprocal in the two sexes, suggesting a passive mechanical transfer during mating, (ii) parallel in both sexes, such as for cVA which strikingly appeared during mating, or (iii) unilateral, presumably as a result of sexual interaction. We provide a complete reassessment of all Drosophila CHs and suggest that the chemical conversation between male and female flies is far more complex than is generally accepted. We conclude that focusing on individual compounds will not provide a satisfactory understanding of the evolution and function of chemical communication in Drosophila.