Incorporation of fatty acids into cuticular hydrocarbons of male and female Drosophila melanogaster

Pennanec'h, M.; Bricard, L.; Kunesch, G.; Jallon, Jean‐Marc

doi:10.1016/s0022-1910(97)00082-6

Cited by 47 publications

(32 citation statements)

References 19 publications

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“…In marine ecosystems, hydrocarbons of varying chain lengths are produced by different micro-organisms such as cyanobacteria and diatoms [44,45] and their abundant presence in the mixed plankton in May suggests that hydrocarbons were transported to L. macrurus from the environment with phytoplankton food. Alternatively, these hydrocarbons could be biosynthetic products of L. macrurus itself as fatty acid-hydrocarbon compounds are known to act as pheromones for instance in insects [46] and in crustaceans, pheromones have been found on the surface of the carapax, to be transmitted through physical contact [e.g., 47].…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Fatty acid composition and lipid content in the copepod Limnocalanus macrurus during summer in the southern Bothnian Sea

et al. 2017

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The lipid reserves and occurrence of the cold-stenothermic, omnivorous copepod Limnocalanus macrurus were studied in the Bothnian Sea (northern Baltic Sea) during spring and summer 2013-2014 with a special emphasis on the fatty acid composition of adults and their potential food. The individual total wax ester (WE) content, determined from the size of oil sacs in the prosoma, ranged on average from 1.3 to 2.6 µg, and showed a decreasing trend towards September. Lipids were dominated by fatty acids 16:0, 18:1(n-9), 18:2(n-6), 20:5(n-3) and 22:6(n-6), forming 56-61% of total fatty acids in June-September. Decreasing abundance of adults and reduction of the lipid storage implied that during summer adults suffered from starvation and, as a result, became eliminated from the population. The lipid content and dietary fatty acid markers suggested that in May, adult L. macrurus utilized the phytoplankton bloom, consisting mainly of diatoms and dinoflagellates, but later, during July-September, consumed either algae or heterotrophic organisms sinking from upper water layers or crustaceans inhabiting the same deeper water layers as L. macrurus. In the face of the climate change, the rising temperatures may force L. macrurus permanently to deeper water levels. If also the food resources are limited, we conclude that the summer season may act as a bottleneck limiting the propagation of L. macrurus and having implications further along the food web.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Fatty acid composition and lipid content in the copepod Limnocalanus macrurus during summer in the southern Bothnian Sea

et al. 2017

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“…These hydrocarbons are themselves synthesized from acetate via linear fatty acids with 12-18 carbons and subsequent elongation-decarboxylation reactions, as in other insects (Blomquist et al 1987;Pennanec'h et al 1997). Recent developments suggest that vaccenic acid itself could arise from desaturation of palmitic acid followed by elongation.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Actually, the hydrocarbon pheromones of D. melanogaster and Musca domestica are derived from fatty acids such as moth unsaturated acetates, and they share a number of biosynthetic steps but differ markedly with respect to chain length (Bjostad et al 1987;Pennanec'h et al 1991). In Drosophila, experiments using labeled precursors have supported an elongation-decarboxylation mechanism to which a few discrete desaturation steps are added (Jallon 1984;Chan Yong & Jallon 1986;Pennanec'h et al 1997). A small number of enzymes are involved, of which a few desaturases and elongases have been characterized (Wicker-Thomas et al 1997;Dallerac et al 2000;Chertemps et al 2005Chertemps et al , 2006Chertemps et al , 2007.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Role of the ejaculatory bulb in biosynthesis of the male pheromone cis‐vaccenyl acetate in Drosophila melanogaster

Guiraudie-Capraz

Pho

Jallon

2007

Integrative Zoology

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In Drosophila melanogaster, the male ejaculatory bulb is the site of synthesis of a male-specific pheromone, cis-vaccenyl acetate, which functions as both an attractant and an anti-aphrodisiac. This long monounsaturated acetate is structurally similar to a number of shorter gland-synthesized moth pheromones. The cell monolayer that forms the Drosophila male ejaculatory bulb wall is responsible for the production and secretion of cis-vaccenyl acetate into the seminal fluid. When dissected bulbs were incubated with sodium [14-C]-acetate (or deuterated acetate), a labeled acetate ester was synthesized. The labeled acetate ester co-migrated with cis-vaccenyl acetate in thin layer chromatography. Incubation of the abdomens of males from which the ejaculatory bulbs had been removed, or the abdomens of females, with radiolabeled acetate did not yield any acetate ester, but did yield other lipid products, including hydrocarbons. When the isolated labeled acetate ester was hydrolyzed, no radioactive vaccenol was formed. This strongly suggests that the acetyl group is incorporated via a transacetylation reaction, but that the vaccenyl moiety is not synthetized in the blub. The transacetylation enzyme activity was localized in the microsomal subfraction of the bulb homogenate, and its affinity for vaccenol was not very different from that reported for monounsaturated alcohol substrates in moths.

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“…All Drosophila CHCs are synthesized de novo from acetate-and linear-saturated fatty acids by elongation, decarboxylation and desaturase pathways (Figure 1, Chan Yong and Jallon, 1986;Pennanec'h et al, 1997). Analysis of multiple CHCs may give an insight into the genetic basis of the two major compounds influencing mate recognition in these two species through establishing the relative contributions of various enzymes associated with CHC biosynthesis (Legendre et al, 2008).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Identification of quantitative trait loci function through analysis of multiple cuticular hydrocarbons differing between Drosophila simulans and Drosophila sechellia females

et al. 2009

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The genetics of sexual isolation, behavioral differences between species that prevent mating, is understood poorly. Pheromonal differences between species can influence sexual isolation in many animals and in some cases a single locus can cause large functional changes in pheromonal mating signals. Drosophila cuticular hydrocarbons (CHCs) can function as pheromones and consequently affect mate recognition. In a previous study of the two major CHCs in females that affect mating discrimination between Drosophila simulans and D. sechellia, quantitative trait loci (QTL) were identified on the X and third chromosome, and a few candidate genes were potentially implicated. Here we specifically test candidate genes for CHC biosynthesis and determine the genetic architecture of four additional CHCs that differ in abundance between D. simulans and D. sechellia females. The same QTL, and new ones, were found for additional CHCs. By examining all these CHCs and exploring their covariance, we were able to ascribe putative function to the major QTL. Although desaturases have received considerable attention for their role in CHC biosynthesis, evidence here implies that elongases may be just as important. Sex determination genes do not seem to have a role in this species difference although D. sechellia is sexually dimorphic in CHCs, whereas D. simulans is not. Epistatic interactions, only detected for CHCs limited to D. sechellia, imply that complex interactions among loci may also be having a role in these compounds that affect mating isolation.

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Incorporation of fatty acids into cuticular hydrocarbons of male and female Drosophila melanogaster

Cited by 47 publications

References 19 publications

Fatty acid composition and lipid content in the copepod Limnocalanus macrurus during summer in the southern Bothnian Sea

Fatty acid composition and lipid content in the copepod Limnocalanus macrurus during summer in the southern Bothnian Sea

Role of the ejaculatory bulb in biosynthesis of the male pheromone cis‐vaccenyl acetate in Drosophila melanogaster

Identification of quantitative trait loci function through analysis of multiple cuticular hydrocarbons differing between Drosophila simulans and Drosophila sechellia females

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