An inhibitory sex pheromone tastes bitter for Drosophila males.
Sexual behavior requires animals to distinguish between the sexes and to respond appropriately to each of them. In Drosophila melanogaster, as in many insects, cuticular hydrocarbons are thought to be involved in sex recognition and in mating behavior, but there is no direct neuronal evidence of their pheromonal effect. Using behavioral and electrophysiological measures of responses to natural and synthetic compounds, we show that Z-7-tricosene, a Drosophila male cuticular hydrocarbon, acts as a sex pheromone and inhibits male-male courtship. These data provide the first direct demonstration that an insect cuticular hydrocarbon is detected as a sex pheromone. Intriguingly, we show that a particular type of gustatory neurons of the labial palps respond both to Z-7-tricosene and to bitter stimuli. Cross-adaptation between Z-7-tricosene and bitter stimuli further indicates that these two very different substances are processed by the same neural pathways. Furthermore, the two substances induced similar behavioral responses both in courtship and feeding tests. We conclude that the inhibitory pheromone tastes bitter to the fly.
Lacaille
Fabien
F
Université de Bourgogne, CNRS-UMR5548, Dijon, France.
Hiroi
Makoto
M
Twele
Robert
R
Inoshita
Tsuyoshi
T
Umemoto
Daisuke
D
Manière
Gérard
G
Marion-Poll
Frédéric
F
Ozaki
Mamiko
M
Francke
Wittko
W
Cobb
Matthew
M
Everaerts
Claude
C
Tanimura
Teiichi
T
Ferveur
Jean-François
JF
D000818:Animals; D002110:Caffeine / Q000494:pharmacology; D004331:Drosophila melanogaster / Q000235:genetics / Q000502:physiology*; D005838:Genotype; D018451:Homosexuality, Male; D008029:Lighting; D008297:Male; D009474:Neurons / Q000187:drug effects / Q000502:physiology; D012724:Sex Attractants / Q000378:metabolism*; D012727:Sex Characteristics; D012726:Sexual Behavior, Animal / Q000187:drug effects / Q000502:physiology; D013649:Taste / Q000187:drug effects / Q000502:physiology*
D012724:Sex Attractants; D002110:Caffeine
Science. 2005 Jul 8;309(5732):311-4
15947139
Curr Biol. 2006 Jun 6;16(11):1154-9
16753571
Eur J Neurosci. 2007 Feb;25(3):683-94
17313569
Annu Rev Entomol. 2005;50:371-93
15355247
Cell Tissue Res. 2002 Mar;307(3):381-92
11904775
J Neurobiol. 2003 Aug;56(2):139-52
12838579
Cell. 2004 Jun 25;117(7):981-91
15210117
Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 1999 Aug 3;96(16):9015-20
10430887
Curr Biol. 2006 Sep 19;16(18):1812-7
16979558
J Exp Biol. 2005 Mar;208(Pt 5):891-8
15755887
Behav Genet. 2005 May;35(3):279-95
15864443
Science. 1994 Jun 17;264(5166):1702-14
8209251
Curr Biol. 2006 Sep 5;16(17):R766-76
16950103
Chem Senses. 2000 Aug;25(4):473-81
10944513
Curr Biol. 2004 Jun 22;14(12):1065-79
15202999
Cell Tissue Res. 1994 Jan;275(1):3-26
8118845
Science. 1995 Feb 10;267(5199):902-5
7846534
Neuron. 2003 Sep 11;39(6):1019-29
12971900
Nature. 2006 Aug 10;442(7103):645-50
16878137
Behav Genet. 1984 Sep;14(5):441-78
6441563
Development. 2002 Dec;129(24):5667-81
12421707
J Neurobiol. 2004 Dec;61(3):333-42
15389687
Science. 1955 Sep 2;122(3166):417-8
13246649
Nature. 2005 Mar 24;434(7032):470-7
15724148
Genetics. 2005 Dec;171(4):1617-28
15489528
Cell Tissue Res. 2001 Jun;304(3):423-37
11456419
Proc Biol Sci. 1996 Aug 22;263(1373):967-73
8805834
Dev Biol. 1986 Sep;117(1):194-203
3091429