title: Identification of p-cresol as an estrus-specific volatile in buffalo saliva: comparative docking analysis of buffalo OBP and β-lactoglobulin with p-cresol.
abstract: Assessment of salivary volatile compounds adopting gas chromatography-linked mass spectrometry (GC-MS) analysis revealed the presence of a total of 11 compounds in the buffalo saliva irrespective of the stages in the reproductive cycle. p-cresol was identified as an estrus-specific volatile compound in the saliva. In addition, modeling of odorant-binding protein (OBP) and β-lactoglobulin revealed that OBP is highly stable and has strong binding affinity with p-cresol. Hydrogen bond interactions indicated that OBP is responsible for pheromone release through saliva. In contrast, β-lactoglobulin, which belongs to the same lipocalin family as OBP, possesses less affinity to p-cresol than OBP, suggesting that it is not involved in p-cresol binding and transport. Phylogenetic characterization revealed that bovine family of OBP is separately clustered. It is suggested that p-cresol has the potential to be developed as a biomarker to detect the reproductive status in the buffalo and for behavioral manipulations.
authors.affiliation: 1 Center for Pheromone Technology, Department of Animal Science, Bharathidasan University, Tiruchirappalli-620024, Tamilnadu, India.
authors.forename: Kandasamy
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Karthikeyan
authors.forename: Paramasivan
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Manivannan
authors.forename: Durairaj
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Rajesh
authors.forename: Subramanian
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Muthukumar
authors.forename: Gangatharan
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Muralitharan
authors.forename: Mohammad Abdulkader
authors.initials: MA
authors.lastname: Akbarsha
authors.forename: Govindaraju
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Archunan
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D002020:Buffaloes; D003408:Cresols / Q000737:chemistry / Q000378:metabolism*; D004971:Estrus / Q000502:physiology*; D005260:Female; D005786:Gene Expression Regulation / Q000502:physiology; D007782:Lactoglobulins / Q000737:chemistry / Q000378:metabolism*; D010802:Phylogeny; D011485:Protein Binding; D018035:Receptors, Odorant / Q000737:chemistry / Q000378:metabolism*; D012463:Saliva / Q000737:chemistry*
chemical_list: D003408:Cresols; D007782:Lactoglobulins; D018035:Receptors, Odorant; C045648:odorant-binding protein; C032538:4-cresol