Affiliation:
1. Department of Biology, University of Maryland, College Park, MD 20742
Abstract
Pheromones play essential roles in reproduction in many species. Prostaglandin F
2α
(PGF
2α
) acts as a female reproductive hormone and as a sex pheromone in some species. An olfactory receptor (OR) for PGF
2α
was recently discovered in zebrafish, but this signaling pathway is evolutionarily labile. To understand the evolution of signals that attract males to fertile females, we used the African cichlid
Astatotilapia burtoni
and found that adult males strongly prefer fertile female odors. Injection of a prostaglandin synthesis inhibitor abolishes this attractivity of fertile females, indicating these hormones are necessary for pheromonal signaling. Unlike zebrafish,
A. burtoni
males are insensitive to PGF
2α
, but they do exhibit strong preference for females injected with PGF
2α
. This attractiveness is independent of the PGF
2α
hormonal receptor Ptgfr, indicating that this pheromone signaling derives from PGF
2α
metabolization into a yet-undiscovered pheromone. We further discovered that fish that are insensitive to PGF
2α
lack an ortholog for the OR Or114 that zebrafish use to detect PGF
2α
. These results indicate that PGF
2α
itself does not directly induce male preference in cichlids. Rather, it plays a vital role that primes females to become attractive via an alternative male OR.
Funder
NSF | BIO | Division of Integrative Organismal Systems
HHS | NIH | National Institute of General Medical Sciences
Human Frontier Science Program
Publisher
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences
Cited by
4 articles.
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