PUBLICATION
Prostaglandin F2α drives female pheromone signaling in cichlids, revealing a basis for evolutionary divergence in olfactory signaling
- Authors
- Li, C.Y., Lawrence, K., Merlo-Coyne, J., Juntti, S.A.
- ID
- ZDB-PUB-221231-6
- Date
- 2023
- Source
- Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America 120: e2214418120e2214418120 (Journal)
- Registered Authors
- Keywords
- cichlid, hormone, olfactory receptor, pheromone, prostaglandin
- MeSH Terms
-
- Animals
- Cichlids*
- Female
- Hormones
- Male
- Pheromones
- Prostaglandins
- Receptors, Odorant*
- Signal Transduction
- Zebrafish
- PubMed
- 36584295 Full text @ Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA
Citation
Li, C.Y., Lawrence, K., Merlo-Coyne, J., Juntti, S.A. (2023) Prostaglandin F2α drives female pheromone signaling in cichlids, revealing a basis for evolutionary divergence in olfactory signaling. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America. 120:e2214418120e2214418120.
Abstract
Pheromones play essential roles in reproduction in many species. Prostaglandin F2α (PGF2α) acts as a female reproductive hormone and as a sex pheromone in some species. An olfactory receptor (OR) for PGF2α was recently discovered in zebrafish, but this signaling pathway is evolutionarily labile. To understand the evolution of signals that attract males to fertile females, we used the African cichlid Astatotilapia burtoni and found that adult males strongly prefer fertile female odors. Injection of a prostaglandin synthesis inhibitor abolishes this attractivity of fertile females, indicating these hormones are necessary for pheromonal signaling. Unlike zebrafish, A. burtoni males are insensitive to PGF2α, but they do exhibit strong preference for females injected with PGF2α. This attractiveness is independent of the PGF2α hormonal receptor Ptgfr, indicating that this pheromone signaling derives from PGF2α metabolization into a yet-undiscovered pheromone. We further discovered that fish that are insensitive to PGF2α lack an ortholog for the OR Or114 that zebrafish use to detect PGF2α. These results indicate that PGF2α itself does not directly induce male preference in cichlids. Rather, it plays a vital role that primes females to become attractive via an alternative male OR.
Genes / Markers
Expression
Phenotype
Mutations / Transgenics
Human Disease / Model
Sequence Targeting Reagents
Fish
Orthology
Engineered Foreign Genes
Mapping