title: Sex pheromone biosynthetic pathways are conserved between moths and the butterfly Bicyclus anynana.
abstract: Although phylogenetically nested within the moths, butterflies have diverged extensively in a number of life history traits. Whereas moths rely greatly on chemical signals, visual advertisement is the hallmark of mate finding in butterflies. In the context of courtship, however, male chemical signals are widespread in both groups although they likely have multiple evolutionary origins. Here, we report that in males of the butterfly Bicyclus anynana, courtship scents are produced de novo via biosynthetic pathways shared with females of many moth species. We show that two of the pheromone components that play a major role in mate choice, namely the (Z)-9-tetradecenol and hexadecanal, are produced through the activity of a fatty acyl Δ11-desaturase and two specialized alcohol-forming fatty acyl reductases. Our study provides the first evidence of conservation and sharing of ancestral genetic modules for the production of FA-derived pheromones over a long evolutionary timeframe thereby reconciling mate communication in moths and butterflies.
authors.affiliation: 1] Department of Biology; Pheromone Group, Lund University, Lund SE-22362, Sweden [2] Department of Organismic and Evolutionary Biology, Harvard University, Cambridge, Massachusetts 02138, USA.
authors.forename: Marjorie A
authors.initials: MA
authors.lastname: Liénard
authors.affiliation: Department of Biology; Pheromone Group, Lund University, Lund SE-22362, Sweden.
authors.forename: Hong-Lei
authors.initials: HL
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.affiliation: 1] Department of Biology; Pheromone Group, Lund University, Lund SE-22362, Sweden [2] Department of Organismic and Evolutionary Biology, Harvard University, Cambridge, Massachusetts 02138, USA [3].
authors.forename: Jean-Marc
authors.initials: JM
authors.lastname: Lassance
authors.affiliation: 1] Department of Biology; Pheromone Group, Lund University, Lund SE-22362, Sweden [2].
authors.forename: Christer
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Löfstedt
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D053898:Biosynthetic Pathways / Q000235:genetics*; D002080:Butterflies / Q000235:genetics*; D018076:DNA, Complementary / Q000235:genetics; D044943:Fatty Acid Desaturases / Q000378:metabolism; D005227:Fatty Acids / Q000096:biosynthesis; D005260:Female; D017344:Genes, Insect; D008297:Male; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D009036:Moths / Q000235:genetics*; D010802:Phylogeny; D017386:Sequence Homology, Amino Acid; D012724:Sex Attractants / Q000096:biosynthesis*; D014158:Transcription, Genetic; D014921:Wings, Animal / Q000502:physiology
chemical_list: D018076:DNA, Complementary; D005227:Fatty Acids; D012724:Sex Attractants; D044943:Fatty Acid Desaturases