TY - JOUR
T1 - Mate discrimination among subspecies through a conserved olfactory pathway
AU - Khallaf, Mohammed A.
AU - Auer, Thomas O.
AU - Grabe, Veit
AU - Depetris-Chauvin, Ana
AU - Ammagarahalli, Byrappa
AU - Zhang, Dan Dan
AU - Lavista-Llanos, Sofía
AU - Kaftan, Filip
AU - Weißflog, Jerrit
AU - Matzkin, Luciano M.
AU - Rollmann, Stephanie M.
AU - Löfstedt, Christer
AU - Svatoš, Aleš
AU - Dweck, Hany K.M.
AU - Sachse, Silke
AU - Benton, Richard
AU - Hansson, Bill S.
AU - Knaden, Markus
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
© 2020 The Authors, some rights reserved; exclusive licensee American Association for the Advancement of Science. No claim to original U.S. Government Works. Distributed under a Creative Commons Attribution NonCommercial License 4.0 (CC BY-NC).
PY - 2020/6
Y1 - 2020/6
N2 - Communication mechanisms underlying the sexual isolation of species are poorly understood. Using four subspecies of Drosophila mojavensis as a model, we identify two behaviorally active, male-specific pheromones. One functions as a conserved male antiaphrodisiac in all subspecies and acts via gustation. The second induces female receptivity via olfaction exclusively in the two subspecies that produce it. Genetic analysis of the cognate receptor for the olfactory pheromone indicates an important role for this sensory pathway in promoting sexual isolation of subspecies, in combination with auditory signals. Unexpectedly, the peripheral sensory pathway detecting this pheromone is conserved molecularly, physiologically, and anatomically across subspecies. These observations imply that subspecies-specific behaviors arise from differential interpretation of the same peripheral cue, reminiscent of sexually conserved detection but dimorphic interpretation of male pheromones in Drosophila melanogaster. Our results reveal that, during incipient speciation, pheromone production, detection, and interpretation do not necessarily evolve in a coordinated manner.
AB - Communication mechanisms underlying the sexual isolation of species are poorly understood. Using four subspecies of Drosophila mojavensis as a model, we identify two behaviorally active, male-specific pheromones. One functions as a conserved male antiaphrodisiac in all subspecies and acts via gustation. The second induces female receptivity via olfaction exclusively in the two subspecies that produce it. Genetic analysis of the cognate receptor for the olfactory pheromone indicates an important role for this sensory pathway in promoting sexual isolation of subspecies, in combination with auditory signals. Unexpectedly, the peripheral sensory pathway detecting this pheromone is conserved molecularly, physiologically, and anatomically across subspecies. These observations imply that subspecies-specific behaviors arise from differential interpretation of the same peripheral cue, reminiscent of sexually conserved detection but dimorphic interpretation of male pheromones in Drosophila melanogaster. Our results reveal that, during incipient speciation, pheromone production, detection, and interpretation do not necessarily evolve in a coordinated manner.
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U2 - 10.1126/sciadv.aba5279
DO - 10.1126/sciadv.aba5279
M3 - Article
C2 - 32704542
AN - SCOPUS:85086805097
SN - 2375-2548
VL - 6
JO - Science Advances
JF - Science Advances
IS - 25
M1 - aba5279
ER -