Pheromones (Behavioural) Flashcards
What was the species from which the first pheromone receptor was sequenced?
Achlya (water mold)
Who coined the term pheromone?
Peter Karlson and Martin Lusher
Who was the scientist who isolated bombykol?
Adolf Butenandt
Where are the female scent sacs located on a silkworm moth?
On her posterior abdomen
What behaviour is exhibited by male silkworm moths following a pheromone trail?
Wing flutterring
What kind of pheromone does a female silkworm moth release to produce wing fluttering behaviour in male moths?
Attractant
Why do males exhibit fluttering behaviour in response to bombykol?
To keep the bombykol flowing across sensory receptors on their antennae – to get it to pass through all the branches
Pheromones are exclusive to these kinds of organisms
None! Not sure about archaea, but in bacteria, plants, and animals
Describe the behaviour of the bacterium Streptomyces faecilis when they come into contact with nutrients
S. faecilis is present on the biofilm of teeth, thye are clumped together even in the absence of nutrients due to the presence of an aggregation pheromone. When your teeth encounter nutrients (after a meal), the bacteria start producing a mating pheromone and they start mating.
What pheromones are released by the water mold Allomyces?
Sirenin and Parisin
How do male Allomyces locate a female in response to an attractant pheromone?
They use temporal sampling: move then sample, like playing a game of hot and cold
Have sensory receptors on anterior and posterior ends to do this sampling
What is the purpose of male Allomyces parisin?
Break down sirenin so that temporal sampling can continue – do not want receptors to become saturated
Describe alarm pheromone behaviour in the sea anemones Anthopleura
Shaggy seamouse eats a little bit of their tentacles, sea anemones release Anthropleurine (alarm pheromone).
Seamouse can’t break down anthropleurine, release it back into the environment continuously
Any nearby sea anemones will be alerted to the presence of the predator and will retract their tentacles
Describe what will happen to a Navanax slime trail if it encounters danger
Navanax slime trails are normally clear, but when they encounter danger they secrete an avoidance alarm pheromone which turns the trail yellow. If another Navanax following the original trail detects the alarm pheromone, it will veer off the trail to avoid the danger
Sunlight erases the alarm pheromone trails, because it would not be useful for the signal to persist
Describe the pheromone behaviour of Lumbricus terrestris earthworms
Release an alarm pheromone which some predators (ex. quails) find repulsive – indicates to the predator that the earthworm might be infected
Some predators (ex. garter snakes) can eavesdrop on this pheromone, and can hunt the earthworms. It is thought that maybe that the snakes have a robust immune system and aren’t as susceptible to bacterial infections, and therefore tolerate the “sick” earthworm
What distinctive behaviour does the male soybean cyst nematode perform in response to female attractant pheromone? What is the significance of this behaviour?
Curling
Significance unknown
What happens to male soybean cyst nematodes when you increase the concentration of female attractant pheromone?
They become paralyzed
Who was responsible for determining that the attractant pheromone of soybean cyst nematodes was concentration dependent?
Robin Huetlel
In arctic barnacles, where is the source of the settling pheromone?
The chitin exoskeleton of adult barnacles: substance leeches out
An example of a hatching pheromone in which the embryo signals to the mother is…
Estuarine crabs
What induces the eggs of the Estuarine crab to signal the hatching pheromone to the mother?
Egg mass starts to break down
A female dog tick will only release the mounting pheromone if…
She has had a blood meal – source of the pheromone is in the host blood
What three categories of pheromones are released in the dog tick pheromone hierarchy?
Attractant
Mounting
Copulating
What are some key characteristics of the dog tick attractant pheromone?
Not species specific, volatile
What are some key characteristics of the dog tick mounting pheromone?
Not volatile, comes from host (cholesterol oleate)
What are some key characteristics of the dog tick copulating pheromone?
Gain species specificity by altering concentrations. Can release multiple fatty acids in different concentrations: alter the plume to gain specificity
Describe aggregation behaviour of Fowl ticks (kenya)
In an experiment in which they were trying to make a trap, thought the ticks used guanine as the aggregation pheromone. Turns out when humidity was low (dry), they would aggregate but when humidity was high (wet), they would disperse. This behaviour minimizes water loss
Why is the grain mite alarm pheromone also antifungal?
Grain mites compete with fungi for food substrate, helps them out-compete
Describe the situations in which grain mites might react to their pheromone beta-acaridian differently
When feeding: will mate in a frenzy
When at rest (not feeding or mating): will act as an aggregation pheromone
Which kind of organism has a mutualistic relationship with fungi?
Atta/leafcutter ants: chew up the leaves once they have been cut from the tree in such a way that the tree does not release a toxin, and then feed pulp to the fungus, which the ants can then feed on
What is an allelochemical?
Any chemical used for communication (hormones, pheromones, etc)
What is a kairomone?
Signals which are “eavesdropped” – benefit the receiver
What is an allomone?
Chemicals which are used for deceit (e.g. mimicry)
What is a synomone?
A chemical which benefits the receiver and the sender
Beetles touching ants to get them to release their food is an example of a…
Allomone
Describe the proposed evolution of pheromones
- Hormones broken down in excretion, but nobody is able to detect them
- Spying: Development of a receptor to pheromone. Fitness advantage to males which can detect pheromonal signals of females - know when they are ready to mate BUT: female might not be receptive
- Communication: Female signals when she is ready to mate: both parties subconsciously aware: fitness advantage to both if both parties are receptive to advances of others
Why did male Danaus (butterflies) only produce danaidone when fed certain diets?
Need a specific compound to produce danaidone
Describe where pine beetles like to mate and lay eggs
Mate and lay eggs in holes that they have bored into trees by eating their way through the tree
The sex of pine beetle which arrives at a tree first depends on…
Whether or not they use polygamy or monogamy
When pine beetles are monogamous, which sex arrives at a new tree first?
Females first
When pine beetles are polygamous, which sex arrives at a new tree first?
Males first
If a colony of bees exceeds 60,000 members, what happens?
Colony reproduces: queen will reproduce and create a new colony
Bees have an (annual/perennial) nest
Perennial
What 3 kinds of bees are in a colony?
Queen, workers, drones
Since all eggs in a colony are laid by the queen, how is a new queen differentiated from a new worker?
Depends on food being fed to the larva: worker bees feed the larvae
Queen bees are (haploid/diploid)
Diploid
Worker bees are (haploid/diploid)
Diploid
Drone bees are (haploid/diploid)
Haploid
Which of the bee types are the smallest?
Workers
Which bees are male?
Drones
Drones are able to locate queen bees 2 ways:
Via pheromones or visually, because they have huge eyes
If drones are unsuccessful in mating, what happens to them?
Come back to the colony after mating flight and are tolerated until food supplies get low, then they are stung to death or ceremonially kicked out
What are the roles of the queen? (2)
Lays eggs
Runs colony operation with pheromones
What are the roles of the drone bees? (2)
Mate with the queen
Keep the colony happy
What are the roles of the worker bees? (3)
Perform in-hive tasks like wax work
Guard hive
Forage for food
When a new queen is being born, what happens?
Worker bees help the queen burrow out of her little cell