2014/03/11 by Jacqueline S.R. Chin, Shane R. Ellis, Huong T. Pham +5 · 2 citations
Neuroscience · Agricultural and Biological Sciences · Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology · #Neurobiology and Insect Physiology Research #Insect behavior and control techniques #Insect and Arachnid Ecology and Behavior
paper · doi:10.7554/elife.01751
openalex publication_date 2014/03/11 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/02
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.