title: Photoperiod and aggression induce changes in ventral gland compounds exclusively in male Siberian hamsters.
abstract: Chemical communication is a critical component of social behavior as it facilitates social encounters, allows for evaluation of the social partner, defines territories and resources, and advertises information such as sex and physiological state of an animal. Odors provide a key source of information about the social environment to rodents; however, studies identifying chemical compounds have thus far focused primarily on few species, particularly the house mouse. Moreover, considerably less attention has been focused on how environmental factors, reproductive phenotype, and behavioral context alter these compounds outside of reproduction. We examined the effects of photoperiod, sex, and social context on chemical communication in the seasonally breeding Siberian hamster. We sampled ventral gland secretions in both male and female hamsters before and after an aggressive encounter and identified changes in a range of volatile compounds. Next, we investigated how photoperiod, reproductive phenotype, and aggression altered ventral gland volatile compound composition across the sexes. Males exhibited a more diverse chemical composition, more sex-specific volatiles, and showed higher levels of excretion compared to females. Individual volatiles were also differentially excreted across photoperiod and reproductive phenotype, as well as differentially altered in response to an aggressive encounter. Female volatile compound composition, in contrast, did not differ across photoperiods or in response to aggression. Collectively, these data contribute to a greater understanding of context-dependent changes in chemical communication in a seasonally breeding rodent.
authors.affiliation: Department of Biology, Center for the Integrative Study of Animal Behavior, Program in Neuroscience, Indiana University, Bloomington, IN 47405, USA. Electronic address: nrendon@indiana.edu.
authors.forename: Nikki M
authors.initials: NM
authors.lastname: Rendon
authors.affiliation: Department of Chemistry, Institute for Pheromone Research, Indiana University, Bloomington, IN 47405, USA.
authors.forename: Helena A
authors.initials: HA
authors.lastname: Soini
authors.affiliation: Department of Biology, Center for the Integrative Study of Animal Behavior, Program in Neuroscience, Indiana University, Bloomington, IN 47405, USA.
authors.forename: Melissa-Ann L
authors.initials: MA
authors.lastname: Scotti
authors.affiliation: Department of Biology, Center for the Integrative Study of Animal Behavior, Program in Neuroscience, Indiana University, Bloomington, IN 47405, USA.
authors.forename: Ellen R
authors.initials: ER
authors.lastname: Weigel
authors.affiliation: Department of Chemistry, Institute for Pheromone Research, Indiana University, Bloomington, IN 47405, USA.
authors.forename: Milos V
authors.initials: MV
authors.lastname: Novotny
authors.affiliation: Department of Biology, Center for the Integrative Study of Animal Behavior, Program in Neuroscience, Indiana University, Bloomington, IN 47405, USA.
authors.forename: Gregory E
authors.initials: GE
authors.lastname: Demas
mesh_terms: D000374:Aggression / Q000502:physiology*; D000818:Animals; D006224:Cricetinae; D005088:Exocrine Glands / Q000737:chemistry / Q000378:metabolism*; D005260:Female; D008297:Male; D017111:Phodopus / Q000502:physiology*; D017440:Photoperiod; D012098:Reproduction / Q000502:physiology; D012919:Social Behavior; D055549:Volatile Organic Compounds / Q000032:analysis / Q000378:metabolism*
chemical_list: D055549:Volatile Organic Compounds
keywords: Chemical signaling; Gas chromatography–mass spectrometry; Olfactory; Pheromones; Scent marking; Sex differences; Stir bar surface sampling; Territoriality; Ventral gland