Study on Molecular Mechanisms of Biosynthesis of Epoxy Pheromones and its Regulation

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Lepidopteran female insects in highly evolved groups, such as Geometridae and Arctiidae, secretes a sex pheromone composed with C_<17>-C_<23> polyalkenes and/or their epoxy derivatives. In order to confirm biosynthesis and its endocrinal regulation mechanism, candidates of cDNAs encoding an epoxydase and a receptor of PBAN (pheromone biosynthesis activating neuropeptide) were characterized from pheromone glands in female moths of the giant looper. In addition to these cloning experiments, biosynthetic pathways of four pheromone components produced by the American white arctiid moth were confirmed by application of labeled precursors and examined substrate selectivity of the oxidation enzymes working in pheromone glands. Furthermore, novel pheromone compounds unsaturated at a 12-position were identified from some species of emerald moths, indicating reproductive isolation was established by diversity of chemical communication systems.