title: The Genetic Basis of Pheromone Evolution in Moths.
abstract: Moth sexual pheromones are widely studied as a fine-tuned system of intraspecific sexual communication that reinforces interspecific reproductive isolation. However, their evolution poses a dilemma: How can the female pheromone and male preference simultaneously change to create a new pattern of species-specific attraction? Solving this puzzle requires us to identify the genes underlying intraspecific variation in signals and responses and to understand the evolutionary mechanisms responsible for their interspecific divergence. Candidate gene approaches and functional analyses have yielded insights into large families of biosynthetic enzymes and pheromone receptors, although the factors controlling their expression remain largely unexplored. Intra- and interspecific crosses have provided tantalizing evidence of regulatory genes, although, to date, mapping resolution has been insufficient to identify them. Recent advances in high-throughput genome and transcriptome sequencing, together with established techniques, have great potential to help scientists identify the specific genetic changes underlying divergence and resolve the mystery of how moth sexual communication systems evolve.
authors.affiliation: Institute for Biodiversity and Ecosystem Dynamics, University of Amsterdam, 1090 GE Amsterdam, The Netherlands; email: a.t.groot@uva.nl.|Department of Entomology, Max Planck Institute for Chemical Ecology, 07745 Jena, Germany; email: heckel@ice.mpg.de.
authors.forename: Astrid T
authors.initials: AT
authors.lastname: Groot
authors.affiliation: Department of Plant Protection Biology, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, SE-230 53 Alnarp, Sweden; email: Teun.Dekker@slu.se.
authors.forename: Teun
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Dekker
authors.affiliation: Department of Entomology, Max Planck Institute for Chemical Ecology, 07745 Jena, Germany; email: heckel@ice.mpg.de.
authors.forename: David G
authors.initials: DG
authors.lastname: Heckel
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D005075:Biological Evolution; D005260:Female; D019476:Insect Proteins / Q000235:genetics* / Q000378:metabolism; D008297:Male; D009036:Moths / Q000235:genetics / Q000502:physiology*; D012724:Sex Attractants / Q000235:genetics* / Q000378:metabolism; D013045:Species Specificity
chemical_list: D019476:Insect Proteins; D012724:Sex Attractants
keywords: Lepidoptera; divergence; genetic analyses; interspecific variation; intraspecific variation; sexual communication