Aggregation pheromone 4-vinylanisole promotes the synchrony of sexual maturation in female locusts

Abstract

Reproductive synchrony generally occurs in various group-living animals. However, the underlying mechanisms remain largely unexplored. The migratory locust, Locusta migratoria, a worldwide agricultural pest species, displays synchronous maturation and oviposition when forms huge swarm. The reproductive synchrony among group members is critical for the maintenance of locust swarms and population density of next generation. Here, we showed that gregarious female locusts displayed more synchronous sexual maturation and oviposition than solitarious females and olfactory deficiency mutants. Only the presence of gregarious male adults can stimulate sexual maturation synchrony of female adults. Of the volatiles emitted abundantly by gregarious male adults, the aggregation pheromone, 4-vinylanisole, was identified to play key role in inducing female sexual maturation synchrony. This maturation-accelerating effect of 4-vinylanisole disappeared in the females of Or35-/- lines, the mutants of 4-vinylanisole receptor. Interestingly, 4-vinylanisole displayed a time window action by which mainly accelerates oocyte maturation of young females aged at middle developmental stages (3–4 days post adult eclosion). We further revealed that juvenile hormone/vitellogenin pathway mediated female sexual maturation triggered by 4-vinylanisole. Our results highlight a ‘catch-up’ strategy by which gregarious females synchronize their oocyte maturation and oviposition by time-dependent endocrinal response to 4-vinylanisole, and provide insight into reproductive synchrony induced by olfactory signal released by heterosexual conspecifics in a given group.

The Sensilla-Specific Expression and Subcellular Localization of SNMP1 and SNMP2 Reveal Novel Insights into Their Roles in the Antenna of the Desert Locust Schistocerca gregaria

“…The desert locust, Schistocerca gregaria , is dreaded for its ability to form huge swarms of many millions of individuals that have devastating impacts on the vegetation and crops of invaded landscapes. In locusts, odorants originating from food sources and oviposition sites or released as pheromones from conspecifics are important olfactory cues that trigger various behaviors crucial for survival and reproduction [ 1 , 2 , 3 , 4 ] Odorant detection in locusts is accomplished by olfactory sensory neurons (OSNs) located in thousands of olfactory units, called sensilla, found mainly on the antenna [ 5 , 6 ] and in low numbers on mouthparts, i.e., the labial and maxillary palps [ 7 , 8 ]. On the antenna, locusts comprise three morphologically different sensilla with basiconic sensilla housing up to 50 OSNs, trichoid sensilla having 3 OSNs, and coeloconic sensilla bearing 4 OSNs.…”

Using ChEMBL to Complement Schistosome Drug Discovery

“…While most of the compounds (12; white boxes on top of Figure 6 ) also inhibited schistosome pairing during co-culture, five compounds (fimepinostat, trichostatin A, SNX 2112, luminespib and 7070707105) did not (blue boxes). As previously demonstrated [ 57 , 58 ], adult male-female pairing is necessary for female sexual maturation and egg production. Therefore, we next asked if compound-induced inhibition of pairing was associated with egg production deficiencies ( Figure 7 ).…”

Juvenile hormone promotes paracellular transport of yolk proteins via remodeling zonula adherens at tricellular junctions in the follicular epithelium

“…Juvenile hormone (JH), a sesquiterpenoid produced in corpora allata is the primary hormone governing vitellogenesis in a variety of insect species [3][4][5]. Cumulative studies have established that JH acts via its receptor complex comprised of Methoprene-tolerant (Met) and Taiman (Tai) in activating the transcription of JH-responsive genes, consequently achieving the previtellogenic effect on fat body competency and the vitellogenic effect on Vg synthesis [4][5][6][7][8][9]. In the mosquito Aedes aegypti, JH triggers Met phosphorylation for enhanced transcriptional activity via a signaling cascade including RTK, PLC, IP3, CaMKII and PKC, which promotes the previtellogenic development [10,11].…”