Evolution of Unique Desaturases in Moth Sex Pheromone Glands

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9870669 Roelofs Sex pheromone systems in insects have had considerable attention because the species-specific attractant chemicals used for attracting mates can be exploited for monitoring and insect management strategies. Also, the critical use of these signals in maintaining the integrity of a species supports the idea that the evolution of the specific signals is directly involved in the speciation process. Although much is now known about how the chemical signals are biosynthesized in the pheromone gland of female moths, there remain many questions about how these chemical communication systems have evolved to use different blends and chemical compositions in related moth species. Dr. Roelofs has found that a family of unique enzymes have evolved in the moth pheromone gland to produce unsaturated compounds possessing double bonds in locations not normally found in other animals. The PI hypothesizes that these unique desaturases evolved from the common delta9 desaturase that is found in all animals to make compounds such as oleic acid (unsaturation at carbon 9). The characterization of the genes for some of the unique desaturases would provide the possibility of conducting a comparison of desaturase genes from primitive and advanced species to the common delta9 desaturase gene to understand better the speciation process. The project is now at a stage of characterizing a gene for a desaturase that produces an E configuration double bond - a gene that has not been identified in any plant or animal. An understanding of the unique desaturases from moth glands and how they insert double bonds, in addition to its huge contribution to the fundamental knowledge about these enzymes and to the specification process, could lead to the development of commercial processes for producing valuable raw materials for the pharmaceuticals, food or chemical industries.