Abstract
Social living is beneficial because it allows conspecifics to interact in ways that increase their chances of survival and reproduction. A key mechanism underlying these benefits is the ability to recognize conspecifics; thus, allowing the production of coordinated social interactions. Identification of such individuals is often through chemical communication: the individuals’ pheromonal profile indicates their sex, species and even past experiences. However we know little about how the chemosensory system of conspecifics detects and how the nervous system processes this information. One of the best documented pheromonal detection mechanism is that of cis-Vaccenyl Acetate (cVA) made by male Drosophila melanogaster and transferred to females during mating. Sensing of cVA by males inhibits courtship behavior towards already mated females. Sensing of cVA on other males also inhibits courtship and increases aggression. In this hybrid review/research article, we discuss the pheromonal system of Drosophila putting an emphasis on the molecular and cellular mechanisms involved in cVA sensing by the olfactory system, perception by the nervous system and ultimately the regulation of social interactions. The behavioral effect of cVA is context- as well as experience-dependent leading us to conclude that cVA plays a modulatory role in regulating social interactions rather than being a recognition pheromone. We also provide new behavioral data on the function of the Odorant Binding Protein Lush, which binds cVA in olfactory sensilla and help sensing this chemical. Our data indicate that lush may be involved in the sensing of additional pheromones to cVA and suggest the existence of a lush-independent cVA detecting system. Interpretation of our data in the light of our current knowledge about pheromonal recognition in Drosophila indicates that this system is still incompletely understood.
Highlights
Recognition of the identity and status of conspecifics permits coordinated behaviors, such as males displaying courtship toward females and not toward males
As lush is expressed in the olfactory system, it is likely that lush1 males fail to sense a female stimulatory pheromone and are slow at initiating or maintaining courtship resulting in delayed mating acceptance by females
Our experiments provide behavioral evidence that the Odorant Binding Protein lush is involved in pheromonal detection beyond that of cis-Vaccenyl Acetate (cVA)
Summary
Recognition of the identity and status of conspecifics permits coordinated behaviors, such as males displaying courtship toward females and not toward males. The molecular and cellular basis of pheromone-mediated recognition has been extensively dissected in the fruit fly Drosophila melanogaster (Billeter and Levine, 2013; Laturney and Billeter, 2014). In this species, pheromones vary in quantity and quality between individuals of different sexes and status. Pheromones vary in quantity and quality between individuals of different sexes and status This variation is caused by genetic diversity (Ferveur et al, 1997; Marcillac et al, 2005a; Chertemps et al, 2006, 2007; Fernández et al, 2010), aging (Kuo et al, 2012) and exposure to environmental factors, such as diet (Fedina et al, 2012) and social experience (Butterworth, 1969; Kent et al, 2008; Krupp et al, 2008). The repertoire of pheromones displayed by an individual fruit fly appears to act as a biographical indicator that can be sensed by other flies, thereby informing their social interactions
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