Beyond Cuticular Hydrocarbons: Chemically Mediated Mate Recognition in the Subsocial Burying Beetle Nicrophorus vespilloides
Beyond Cuticular Hydrocarbons: Chemically Mediated Mate Recognition in the Subsocial Burying Beetle Nicrophorus vespilloides
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DOI：
10.1007/s10886-016-0806-8
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发表时间：
2017-01-01
影响因子：
2.3
通讯作者：
Steiger, Sandra
中科院分区：
文献类型：
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作者：
Keppner, Eva M.;Prang, Madlen;Steiger, Sandra
几个世纪以来，埋葬甲虫一直吸引着科学家，因为它们精心制作的双亲护理形式，包括埋葬和保护脊椎动物尸体，以及随后喂养幼虫。然而，除了对埋葬虫的广泛研究，还有一个基本问题尚未得到回答：雄性利用什么线索来区分性别？在这里，我们在埋葬甲虫Nicrophorus vespilloides，表皮脂质触发男性交配行为。以前的化学分析揭示了表皮碳氢化合物（CHC）组成的性别差异，然而，在目前的研究中，分馏指导的生物测定表明，表皮脂质，而不是CHC，引起交配。化学分析的行为活跃的馏分显示17种化合物，主要是醛和脂肪酸酯，与小的数量，但没有性别之间的质的差异。补充男性与十六烷醛，化合物贡献最大的统计分离的男性和女性的化学档案，并没有引发交配企图的男性。因此，一个可能的解释是，极性脂质的整个轮廓介导的性别识别在N。vespilloides。
Burying beetles have fascinated scientists for centuries due to their elaborate form of biparental care that includes the burial and defense of a vertebrate carcass, as well as the subsequent feeding of the larvae. However, besides extensive research on burying beetles, one fundamental question has yet to be answered: what cues do males use to discriminate between the sexes? Here, we show in the burying beetle Nicrophorus vespilloides that cuticular lipids trigger male mating behavior. Previous chemical analyses have revealed sex differences in cuticular hydrocarbon (CHC) composition; however, in the current study, fractionated-guided bioassay showed that cuticular lipids, other than CHCs, elicit copulation. Chemical analyses of the behaviorally active fraction revealed 17 compounds, mainly aldehydes and fatty acid esters, with small quantitative but no qualitative differences between the sexes. Supplementation of males with hexadecanal, the compound contributing most to the statistical separation of the chemical profiles of males and females, did not trigger copulation attempts by males. Therefore, a possible explanation is that the whole profile of polar lipids mediates sex recognition in N. vespilloides.