title: Food odors trigger Drosophila males to deposit a pheromone that guides aggregation and female oviposition decisions.
abstract: Animals use olfactory cues for navigating complex environments. Food odors in particular provide crucial information regarding potential foraging sites. Many behaviors occur at food sites, yet how food odors regulate such behaviors at these sites is unclear. Using Drosophila melanogaster as an animal model, we found that males deposit the pheromone 9-tricosene upon stimulation with the food-odor apple cider vinegar. This pheromone acts as a potent aggregation pheromone and as an oviposition guidance cue for females. We use genetic, molecular, electrophysiological, and behavioral approaches to show that 9-tricosene activates antennal basiconic Or7a receptors, a receptor activated by many alcohols and aldehydes such as the green leaf volatile E2-hexenal. We demonstrate that loss of Or7a positive neurons or the Or7a receptor abolishes aggregation behavior and oviposition site-selection towards 9-tricosene and E2-hexenal. 9-Tricosene thus functions via Or7a to link food-odor perception with aggregation and egg-laying decisions.
authors.affiliation: The Solomon H Snyder Department of Neuroscience, Center for Sensory Biology, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, United States.
authors.forename: Chun-Chieh
authors.initials: CC
authors.lastname: Lin
authors.affiliation: Monell Chemical Senses Center, Philadelphia, United States.
authors.forename: Katharine A
authors.initials: KA
authors.lastname: Prokop-Prigge
authors.affiliation: Monell Chemical Senses Center, Philadelphia, United States.|Department of Dermatology, School of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, United States.
authors.forename: George
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Preti
authors.affiliation: The Solomon H Snyder Department of Neuroscience, Center for Sensory Biology, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, United States.
authors.forename: Christopher J
authors.initials: CJ
authors.lastname: Potter
mesh_terms: D019342:Acetic Acid; D000475:Alkenes / Q000378:metabolism*; D000818:Animals; D004331:Drosophila melanogaster / Q000187:drug effects* / Q000502:physiology*; D005260:Female; D008297:Male; D009812:Odorants; D010058:Oviposition; D010675:Pheromones / Q000378:metabolism*
chemical_list: D000475:Alkenes; D010675:Pheromones; C003646:muscalure; D019342:Acetic Acid
keywords: D. melanogaster; aggregation; neuroscience; olfaction; oviposition; pheromone