U.S.-New Zealand Cooperative Research: Comparative Role of Pheromone Biosynthesis Activating Neuropeptide (PBAN) in Moth Species

该奖项将支持康奈尔大学的Wendell L.Roelofs博士和新西兰科学与工业研究部(DSIRO)的Stephen Foster博士之间的合作研究。在过去的二十年里，研究人员已经建立了生物合成酶途径的知识库，通过这些途径，位于腺体和其他器官中的信息素的产生被大脑激素、生物合成激活神经肽(PBAN)激活。然而，关键的悬而未决的问题弥漫在这些研究中：这些荷尔蒙系统及其独特的生物合成酶和大脑荷尔蒙对信息素产生的控制是如何进化的，这是物种特有的？这一合作项目将集中在这一研究问题上，即PBAN如何影响几个飞蛾物种信息素产生的进化。该项目代表了新西兰和美国研究人员之间的出色合作。新西兰小组对世界上已知的唯一一种在同一属内表现出从原始到更高级的信息素生物合成途径的飞蛾物种拥有丰富的经验和知识。美国团队将应用他们开发的一系列技术来研究PBAN的作用，并为研究提供合成PBAN。这项研究是推进对脑激素进化的基本理解的重要基础工作。此外，由于荷尔蒙会导致基于化学的行为的根本变化，这项研究可能会产生与调节昆虫在心脏活动和血糖等领域的行为相关的结果。

This award will support collaborative research between Dr. Wendell L. Roelofs of Cornell University and Dr. Stephen Foster of the New Zealand Department of Scientific and Industrial Research (DSIRO). Over the last two decades, researchers have built a knowledge-base of the biosynthetic enzyme pathways through which production of pheromone located in glands and other organs, is activated by the brain-hormone, biosynthesis activating neuropeptide (PBAN). Critical unanswered questions,however, have pervaded these studies: How did these hormonal systems and their unique biosynthetic enzymes and brain-hormonal control of pheromone production, which are species-specific, evolve? This cooperative project will focus on this research question, that is, the evolution of how PBAN effects pheromone production in several moth species. The project represents excellent collaboration between New Zealand and U.S. researchers. The New Zealand group has extensive experience and knowledge of the only moth species known in the world to exhibit the pattern of primitive to more advanced pheromone biosynthetic pathways within the same genus. The U.S. group will apply the series of techniques, which they developed, for studying the action of PBAN, and provide synthetic PBAN for the study. The research is important fundamental work in advancing basic understanding of evolution of the brain-hormone, PBAN. Also, since hormones cause chemically-based radical changes in behavior, the study has the potential for results relevant to regulating insect behavior in areas such as cardiac activity and blood sugar.