Ultrastructure of the mental gland of the Red‐Backed Salamander, <i>Plethodon cinereus</i> (Amphibia: Plethodontidae)

Sever, David M.

doi:10.1111/azo.12158

Cited by 9 publications

(5 citation statements)

References 26 publications

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“…The correlation of presence of mature sperm in the Wolffian duct with developed and developing courtship glands has been noted in other studies of plethodontid courtship glands (Sever, 1975(Sever, , 2016. Both mental glands and caudal courtship glands hypertrophy together in all three species studied.…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 75%

Histology of mental and caudal courtship glands in three genera of plethodontid salamanders (Amphibia: Plethodontidae)

Rupp

Sever

2017

Acta Zoologica

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Salamanders in the family Plethodontidae exhibit a unique tail‐straddle walk during courtship that can include the use of sexually dimorphic mental and caudal courtship glands. This study presents novel histological and fine structure data on mental glands and caudal courtship glands in Plethodon mississippi, Desmognathus conanti and Eurycea quadridigitata using both light microscopy and scanning electron microscopy. This study represents the first use of scanning electron microscopy to observe these glands. Both mental and caudal courtship glands were observed to vary seasonally in gland diameter and histology according to the breeding season of each species. Morphological variation was observed across the three species studied in both clustering and relative size of the glands compared to neighbouring mucous and granular glands. Hypertrophied mental glands are larger than mucous or granular glands in all species, but relationships among caudal courtship glands and other skin glands vary among species. In E. quadridigitata, active caudal courtship glands are larger than mucous and granular glands, but in D. conanti, caudal courtship glands are similar in size to granular glands and larger than mucous glands. In P. mississippi, caudal courtship glands are scattered among significantly larger granular glands and are similar in size to mucous glands.

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Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 75%

Histology of mental and caudal courtship glands in three genera of plethodontid salamanders (Amphibia: Plethodontidae)

Rupp

Sever

2017

Acta Zoologica

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“…(2022). The specialised glands stained positive to PAS and Coomassie Blue R250 (Figure S2), suggesting the secretion of a similar content (glycoproteins) to the breeding glands of other amphibian species, known to secrete glycosylated protein pheromones (Bossuyt et al., 2019; Schulte et al., 2021; Sever, 2017). The epidermis around the fingers is smooth, without epidermal projections known from anuran nuptial pads (Luna et al., 2018), and permeated by the outgoing ducts of ordinary and specialised glands (Figure S2).…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 93%

Sexy fingers: Pheromones in the glands of male dendrobatid frogs

Almeida,

Twomey,

Vargas‐Salinas

et al. 2024

Molecular Ecology

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Many animals exchange chemicals during courtship and mating. In some amphibians, sexual chemical communication is mediated by pheromones produced in male breeding glands that are transferred to the female's nostrils during mating. This has been mostly studied in salamanders, despite frogs having similar glands and courtship behaviours suggestive of chemical communication. In Neotropical poison frogs (Dendrobatidae and Aromobatidae), males of many species develop breeding glands in their fingers, causing certain fingers to visibly swell. Many also engage in cephalic amplexus, whereby the male's swollen fingers are placed in close contact with the female's nares during courtship. Here, we investigate the possible roles of swollen fingers in pheromone production using whole‐transcriptome sequencing (RNAseq). We examined differential gene expression in the swollen versus non‐swollen fingers and toes of two dendrobatid species, Leucostethus brachistriatus and Epipedobates anthonyi, both of which have specialised mucous glands in finger IV, the latter of which has cephalic amplexus. The overwhelming pattern of gene expression in both species was strong upregulation of sodefrin precursor‐like factors (SPFs) in swollen fingers, a well‐known pheromone system in salamanders. The differentially expressed SPF transcripts in each species were very high (>40), suggesting a high abundance of putative protein pheromones in both species. Overall, the high expression of SPFs in the swollen fingers in both species, combined with cephalic amplexus, supports the hypothesis that these traits, widespread across members of the subfamilies Colostethinae and Hyloxalinae (ca. 141 species), are involved in chemical signalling during courtship.

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“…In the lips of all three examined species, we identified specialized mucus glands (SMGs), a type of sexually dimorphic skin gland, that has been described in various amphibian species (including another Plectrohyla species [ 33 ]). In several anurans which bring their SMGs in direct contact with the female´s nares during mating [ 8 ] as well as in plethodontid salamanders known for transdermal transmission [ 40 ] these glands have been shown to produce proteins that are involved in chemical communication. In Plectrohyla the ducts of the SMGs exit through the epidermis onto the inner and outer lips (also see [ 33 ]).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Love bites: male frogs (Plectrohyla, Hylidae) use teeth scratching to deliver sodefrin precursor-like factors to females during amplexus

et al. 2021

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Background Efficient transfer of chemical signals is important for successful mating in many animal species. Multiple evolutionary lineages of animals evolved direct sex pheromone transmission during traumatic mating—the wounding of the partner with specialized devices—which helps to avoid signal loss to the environment. Although such direct transmission modes of so-called allohormone pheromones are well-documented in invertebrates, they are considered rare in vertebrates. Males of several species of the frog genus Plectrohyla (Hylidae, Anura) have elongated teeth and develop swollen lips during the breeding season. Here we investigated the possibility that these structures are used to scratch the females’ skin and apply allohormone pheromones during traumatic mating in several Plectrohyla species. Results Our behavioural observations revealed that males press their upper jaw onto the females’ dorsum during amplexus, leaving small skin scratches with their teeth. Histological examinations of the males’ lips identified specialized mucus glands, resembling known amphibian pheromone glands. Whole-transcriptome sequencing of these breeding glands showed high expression of sodefrin precursor-like factor (SPF) proteins, which are known to have a pheromone function in multiple amphibian species. Conclusions Our study suggests SPF delivery via traumatic mating in several anuran species: the males have specialized breeding glands in the lips for production and secretion and use their elongated teeth as wounding devices for application. We hypothesize that these SPF proteins end up in the females’ circulatory system, where understanding their exact function will require further molecular, physiological and behavioural testing.

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Ultrastructure of the mental gland of the Red‐Backed Salamander, Plethodon cinereus (Amphibia: Plethodontidae)

Abstract: Sever, D.M. 2016

Cited by 9 publications

References 26 publications

Histology of mental and caudal courtship glands in three genera of plethodontid salamanders (Amphibia: Plethodontidae)

Histology of mental and caudal courtship glands in three genera of plethodontid salamanders (Amphibia: Plethodontidae)

Sexy fingers: Pheromones in the glands of male dendrobatid frogs

Love bites: male frogs (Plectrohyla, Hylidae) use teeth scratching to deliver sodefrin precursor-like factors to females during amplexus

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