IRC-EB: The Evolution of a Pheromone Signaling System: From Molecules to Mating

林恩霍克- NSF 0110666”IRC：信息素信号系统的演变：从分子到交配“奠定总结陆地蝾螈有一个独特的化学通讯系统。 这个系统的特点是非挥发性信息素（化学信号），男性提供给女性在求偶。 雄性求偶信息素是由雄性下巴下的一个扩大的腺体产生的，雄性把这个腺体放在雌性的鼻子上，以传递他的信息素。 在它们随后的进化史中，plethodontids以各种方式修改了这种信息素传递系统，包括将信息素“注射”到雌性循环系统中的传递方法。 这种化学通讯系统-在脊椎动物中是独一无二的-在不同的plethodontids群体的进化辐射中一直保留着。 最近，它已被确定，plethodontid信息素增加女性的性感受性，表明求爱，更迅速地完成。 它也已经确定，信息素是一种蛋白质。 这种蛋白质的氨基酸序列已经确定，以及产生信息素蛋白质的基因的核苷酸序列。 此外，已经确定信息素蛋白属于包括干扰素和白细胞介素的细胞因子家族。 这些发现的系统发育背景为研究从基因到蛋白质再到行为的因果途径的进化提供了一个极好的机会。 这个项目包含了一个概念框架，通常适用于研究在多层次的组织通信系统的演变。

Lynne Houck - NSF 0110666" IRC: The Evolution of a Pheromone Signaling System: From Molecules to Mating"LAY SUMMARYTerrestrial salamanders have a unique system of chemical communication. This system features non-volatile pheromones (chemical signals) that a male delivers to the female during courtship. The male courtship pheromone is produced by an enlarged gland under the male's chin, and the male taps this gland on the female's nose in order to deliver his pheromone. In their subsequent evolutionary history, plethodontids modified this pheromone delivery system in a variety of ways, including delivery methods in which the pheromone is "injected" into the female's circulatory system. This chemical communication system -unique among vertebrates- has been retained by diverse groups of plethodontids throughout their evolutionary radiation. Recently, it has been established that the plethodontid pheromone increases female sexual receptivity, as indicated by courtships that are completed more rapidly. It also has been determined that the pheromone is a protein. The amino acid sequence of this protein has been identified, as well as the nucleotide sequence of the gene that produces the pheromone protein. Furthermore, it has been established that the pheromone protein is in a cytokine family that includes interferons and interleukins. The phylogenetic setting for these discoveries offers an outstanding opportunity to investigate the evolution of the causal pathway from gene to protein to behavior. This project embraces a conceptual framework that is generally applicable to the study of evolutionary change in communication systems at multiple levels of organization.