title: Identification of pheromone-like compounds in male reproductive organs of the oriental locust Locusta migratoria.
abstract: Despite the great economical interest of locusts in agriculture, knowledge on their chemoreception systems is still poor. Phenylacetonitrile is recognised as a pheromone of the desert locust Schistocerca gregaria, triggering gregarization, promoting aggregation and inhibiting courtship. However, in the other major locust species, Locusta migratoria, pheromones have not been reported. We have identified the two isomers of naphthylpropionitrile from the male reproductive organs of L. migratoria. Chemical synthesis has confirmed the identity of the two compounds. Both isomers show significant affinity to CSP91, a protein reported in the testis, but not to three other proteins of the same family (CSP180, CSP540 and CSP884) expressed in female accessory glands. The striking similarity of these compounds with phenylacetonitrile and the unusual nature of such chemicals strongly suggest that naphthylpropionitrile could be pheromones for L. migratoria, while their site of expression and binding activity indicate a role in communication between sexes.
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory of Animal Nutrition, Department of Grassland, College of Animal Science and Technology, China.
authors.forename: Liping
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Ban
authors.forename: Elio
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Napolitano
authors.forename: Andrea
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Serra
authors.forename: Xianhong
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Zhou
authors.forename: Immacolata
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Iovinella
authors.forename: Paolo
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Pelosi
mesh_terms: D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D000819:Animal Communication; D000818:Animals; D005786:Gene Expression Regulation; D006066:Gonads / Q000737:chemistry*; D020128:Inhibitory Concentration 50; D019476:Insect Proteins / Q000378:metabolism; D008024:Ligands; D048188:Locusta migratoria / Q000502:physiology*; D009682:Magnetic Resonance Spectroscopy; D008297:Male; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D009570:Nitriles / Q000737:chemistry; D010675:Pheromones / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000302:isolation & purification; D011485:Protein Binding; D017386:Sequence Homology, Amino Acid; D013050:Spectrometry, Fluorescence
chemical_list: D019476:Insect Proteins; D008024:Ligands; D009570:Nitriles; D010675:Pheromones
keywords: 1-NPN; CSP; Chemosensory proteins; GC/MS; Ligand-binding; Locusta migratoria; N-phenyl-1-naphthylamine; Naphthylpropionitrile; OBP; Pheromone; Reproductive organs; chemosensory protein; gas-chromatography/mass spectrometry; odorant-binding protein