Aggregation pheromone 4-vinylanisole promotes the synchrony of sexual maturation in female locusts

eLife

Jianing Wei¹  Le Kang²  Xianhui Wang³  Siyuan Guo³  Pengcheng Yang³  Weichan Cui³  Dafeng Chen³  Li Hou³ 

[1] CAS Center for Excellence in Biotic Interactions, University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China;Beijing Institutes of Life Sciences, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China;State Key Laboratory of Integrated Management of Pest Insects and Rodents, Institute of Zoology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China;

关键词: social interaction;    sexual maturation;    olfactory signal;    endocrine hormone;    pheromones;    synchrony;   

DOI  :  10.7554/eLife.74581

来源: DOAJ

【 摘 要 】

Reproductive synchrony generally occurs in various group-living animals. However, the underlying mechanisms remain largely unexplored. The migratory locust, Locusta migratoria, a worldwide agricultural pest species, displays synchronous maturation and oviposition when forms huge swarm. The reproductive synchrony among group members is critical for the maintenance of locust swarms and population density of next generation. Here, we showed that gregarious female locusts displayed more synchronous sexual maturation and oviposition than solitarious females and olfactory deficiency mutants. Only the presence of gregarious male adults can stimulate sexual maturation synchrony of female adults. Of the volatiles emitted abundantly by gregarious male adults, the aggregation pheromone, 4-vinylanisole, was identified to play key role in inducing female sexual maturation synchrony. This maturation-accelerating effect of 4-vinylanisole disappeared in the females of Or35-/- lines, the mutants of 4-vinylanisole receptor. Interestingly, 4-vinylanisole displayed a time window action by which mainly accelerates oocyte maturation of young females aged at middle developmental stages (3–4 days post adult eclosion). We further revealed that juvenile hormone/vitellogenin pathway mediated female sexual maturation triggered by 4-vinylanisole. Our results highlight a ‘catch-up’ strategy by which gregarious females synchronize their oocyte maturation and oviposition by time-dependent endocrinal response to 4-vinylanisole, and provide insight into reproductive synchrony induced by olfactory signal released by heterosexual conspecifics in a given group.

【 授权许可】

Unknown