TY - JOUR TI - Sex-specific triacylglycerides are widely conserved in Drosophila and mediate mating behavior AU - Chin, Jacqueline SR AU - Ellis, Shane R AU - Pham, Huong T AU - Blanksby, Stephen J AU - Mori, Kenji AU - Koh, Qi Ling AU - Etges, William J AU - Yew, Joanne Y A2 - Clardy, Jon VL - 3 PY - 2014 DA - 2014/03/11 SP - e01751 C1 - eLife 2014;3:e01751 DO - 10.7554/eLife.01751 UR - https://doi.org/10.7554/eLife.01751 AB - Pheromones play an important role in the behavior, ecology, and evolution of many organisms. The structure of many insect pheromones typically consists of a hydrocarbon backbone, occasionally modified with various functional oxygen groups. Here we show that sex-specific triacylclyerides (TAGs) are broadly conserved across the subgenus Drosophila in 11 species and represent a novel class of pheromones that has been largely overlooked. In desert-adapted drosophilids, 13 different TAGs are secreted exclusively by males from the ejaculatory bulb, transferred to females during mating, and function synergistically to inhibit courtship from other males. Sex-specific TAGs are comprised of at least one short branched tiglic acid and a long linear fatty acyl component, an unusual structural motif that has not been reported before in other natural products. The diversification of chemical cues used by desert-adapted Drosophila as pheromones may be related to their specialized diet of fermenting cacti. KW - ozone-induced dissociation KW - mass spectrometry KW - behavior KW - D. arizonae KW - D. mojavensis KW - laser desorption ionzation JF - eLife SN - 2050-084X PB - eLife Sciences Publications, Ltd ER -