Erik Hedenström

The Male Sex Pheromone of the Butterfly Bicyclus anynana: Towards an Evolutionary Analysis

Background Female sex pheromones attracting mating partners over long distances are a major determinant of reproductive isolation and speciation in Lepidoptera. Males can also produce sex pheromones but their study, particularly in butterflies, has received little attention. A detailed comparison of sex pheromones in male butterflies with those of female moths would reveal patterns of conservation versus novelty in the associated behaviours, biosynthetic pathways, compounds, scent-releasing structures and receiving systems. Here we assess whether the African butterfly Bicyclus anynana, for which genetic, genomic, phylogenetic, ecological and ethological tools are available, represents a relevant model to contribute to such comparative studies. Methodology/Principal Findings Using a multidisciplinary approach, we determined the chemical composition of the male sex pheromone (MSP) in the African butterfly B. anynana, and demonstrated its behavioural activity. First, we identified three compounds forming the presumptive MSP, namely (Z)-9-tetradecenol (Z9-14:OH), hexadecanal (16:Ald ) and 6,10,14-trimethylpentadecan-2-ol (6,10,14-trime-15-2-ol), and produced by the male secondary sexual structures, the androconia. Second, we described the male courtship sequence and found that males with artificially reduced amounts of MSP have a reduced mating success in semi-field conditions. Finally, we could restore the mating success of these males by perfuming them with the synthetic MSP. Conclusions/Significance This study provides one of the first integrative analyses of a MSP in butterflies. The toolkit it has developed will enable the investigation of the type of information about male quality that is conveyed by the MSP in intraspecific communication. Interestingly, the chemical structure of B. anynana MSP is similar to some sex pheromones of female moths making a direct comparison of pheromone biosynthesis between male butterflies and female moths relevant to future research. Such a comparison will in turn contribute to understanding the evolution of sex pheromone production and reception in butterflies.

Allelic variation in a fatty-acyl reductase gene causes divergence in moth sex pheromones

Pheromone-based behaviours are crucial in animals from insects to mammals, and reproductive isolation is often based on pheromone differences. However, the genetic mechanisms by which pheromone signals change during the evolution of new species are largely unknown. In the sexual communication system of moths (Insecta: Lepidoptera), females emit a species-specific pheromone blend that attracts males over long distances. The European corn borer, Ostrinia nubilalis, consists of two sex pheromone races, Z and E, that use different ratios of the cis and trans isomers of acetate pheromone components. This subtle difference leads to strong reproductive isolation in the field between the two races, which could represent a first step in speciation. Female sex pheromone production and male behavioural response are under the control of different major genes, but the identity of these genes is unknown. Here we show that allelic variation in a fatty-acyl reductase gene essential for pheromone biosynthesis accounts for the phenotypic variation in female pheromone production, leading to race-specific signals. Both the cis and trans isomers of the pheromone precursors are produced by both races, but the precursors are differentially reduced to yield opposite ratios in the final pheromone blend as a result of the substrate specificity of the enzymes encoded by the Z and E alleles. This is the first functional characterization of a gene contributing to intraspecific behavioural reproductive isolation in moths, highlighting the importance of evolutionary diversification in a lepidopteran-specific family of reductases. Accumulation of substitutions in the coding region of a single biosynthetic enzyme can produce pheromone differences resulting in reproductive isolation, with speciation as a potential end result.

Water Activity Influences Enantioselectivity in a Lipase Catalysed Resolution by Esterification in an Organic Solvent

Water Activity Influences Enantioselectivity in a Lipase Catalysed Resolution by Esterification in an Organic Solvent

Synthesis and gas chromatographic separation of the eight stereoisomers of diprionol and their acetates, components of the sex pheromone of pine sawflies

Abstract The present report describes syntheses of the eight possible stereoisomers of 3,7-dimediyl-2-pentadecanol 1 , and the corresponding acetates. The latter are components of the sex pheromone of the Neodiprion , Diprion and Gilpinia genera (Diprionidae) . Synthetic intermediates were prepared from either chiral starting materials or by asymmetric syntheses. The stereochemical compositions of the isomeric diprionols were determined by using capillary gas chromatography on tandem column systems, some with chiral phase coatings.

Key biosynthetic gene subfamily recruited for pheromone production prior to the extensive radiation of Lepidoptera

BackgroundMoths have evolved highly successful mating systems, relying on species-specific mixtures of sex pheromone components for long-distance mate communication. Acyl-CoA desaturases are key enzymes in the biosynthesis of these compounds and to a large extent they account for the great diversity of pheromone structures in Lepidoptera. A novel desaturase gene subfamily that displays Δ11 catalytic activities has been highlighted to account for most of the unique pheromone signatures of the taxonomically advanced ditrysian species. To assess the mechanisms driving pheromone evolution, information is needed about the signalling machinery of primitive moths. The currant shoot borer, Lampronia capitella, is the sole reported primitive non-ditrysian moth known to use unsaturated fatty-acid derivatives as sex-pheromone. By combining biochemical and molecular approaches we elucidated the biosynthesis paths of its main pheromone component, the (Z,Z)-9,11-tetradecadien-1-ol and bring new insights into the time point of the recruitment of the key Δ11-desaturase gene subfamily in moth pheromone biosynthesis.ResultsThe reconstructed evolutionary tree of desaturases evidenced two ditrysian-specific lineages (the Δ11 and Δ9 (18C>16C)) to have orthologs in the primitive moth L. capitella despite being absent in Diptera and other insect genomes. Four acyl-CoA desaturase cDNAs were isolated from the pheromone gland, three of which are related to Δ9-desaturases whereas the fourth cDNA clusters with Δ11-desaturases. We demonstrated that this transcript (Lca-KPVQ) exclusively accounts for both steps of desaturation involved in pheromone biosynthesis. This enzyme possesses a Z11-desaturase activity that allows transforming the palmitate precursor (C16:0) into (Z)-11-hexadecenoic acid and the (Z)-9-tetradecenoic acid into the conjugated intermediate (Z,Z)-9,11-tetradecadienoic acid.ConclusionThe involvement of a single Z11-desaturase in pheromone biosynthesis of a non-ditrysian moth species, supports that the duplication event leading to the origin of the Lepidoptera-specific Δ11-desaturase gene subfamily took place before radiation of ditrysian moths and their divergence from other heteroneuran lineages. Our findings uncover that this novel class of enzymes affords complex combinations of unique unsaturated fatty acyl-moieties of variable chain-lengths, regio- and stereo-specificities since early in moth history and contributes a notable innovation in the early evolution of moth-pheromones.

2-Methylalkanoic acids resolved by esterification catalysed by lipase from Candida rugosa : alcohol chain length and enantioselectivity

2-Methylalkanoic Acids Resolved by Esterification Catalysed by Candida rugosa : Alcohol Chain Length and Enantioselectivity

Reaction conditions for the resolution of 2-methylalkanoic acids in esterification and hydrolysis with lipase from Candida cylindracea

SummaryWe have demonstrated resolution of 2-methylalkanoic acids using lipase from Candida cylindracea as a catalyst. The resolution of 2-methyldecanoic acid was more successful than that of 2-methylbutyric acid both by esterification and hydrolysis. This indicates that the resolution of the acid is dependent on the chain length of the acid moiety. The chain length of the alcohol moiety of the ester affected the resolution of the long-chain acid only. Using esterification, (R)-2-methyldecanoic acid was produced in an enantiomeric excess (e.e.) of 95% (E = 40). If the enantiomeric ratio is low (E = 3.6), as in the resolution of 2-methylbutyric acid, esterification combined with a high equilibrium conversion could be used to yield the remaining acid in a high e.e. In the hydrolytic reactions, the e.e and the equilibrium conversion were dependent on the pH and the presence of CaCl2. When octyl 2-methyldecanoate was hydrolysed at pH 8.0 in the presence of CaCl2, the (S)-acid was formed with an e.e. of 80% (E = 9), but when the hydrolysis was carried out at pH 7.5 without CaCl2, a very low e.e. and a low equilibrium conversion were observed. The latter conditions allowed the esterification of 2-methyldecanoic acid with 1-octanol even in aqueous medium.

Semi-Selective Fatty Acyl Reductases from Four Heliothine Moths Influence the Specific Pheromone Composition

Background Sex pheromones are essential in moth mate communication. Information on pheromone biosynthetic genes and enzymes is needed to comprehend the mechanisms that contribute to specificity of pheromone signals. Most heliothine moths use sex pheromones with (Z)–11–hexadecenal as the major component in combination with minor fatty aldehydes and alcohols. In this study we focus on four closely related species, Heliothis virescens, Heliothis subflexa, Helicoverpa armigera and Helicoverpa assulta, which use (Z)–11–hexadecenal, (Z)–9–tetradecanal, and (Z)–9–hexadecenal in different ratios in their pheromone blend. The components are produced from saturated fatty acid precursors by desaturation, β–oxidation, reduction and oxidation. Results We analyzed the composition of fatty acyl pheromone precursors and correlated it to the pheromone composition. Next, we investigated whether the downstream fatty–acyl reduction step modulates the ratio of alcohol intermediates before the final oxidation step. By isolating and functionally characterizing the Fatty Acyl Reductase (pgFAR) from each species we found that the pgFARs were active on a broad set of C8 to C16 fatty acyl substrates including the key pheromone precursors, Z9–14, Z9–16 and Z11–16:acyls. When presenting the three precursors in equal ratios to yeast cultures expressing any of the four pgFARs, all reduced (Z)–9–tetradecenoate preferentially over (Z)–11–hexadecenoate, and the latter over (Z)–9–hexadecenoate. Finally, when manipulating the precursor ratios in vitro, we found that the pgFARs display small differences in the biochemical activity on various substrates. Conclusions We conclude that a pgFAR with broad specificity is involved in heliothine moth pheromone biosynthesis, functioning as a semi–selective funnel that produces species–specific alcohol product ratios depending on the fatty–acyl precursor ratio in the pheromone gland. This study further supports the key role of these in pheromone biosynthesis and emphasizes the interplay between the pheromone fatty acyl precursors and the Lepidoptera specific pgFARs in shaping the pheromone composition.

Sex pheromone of the pine sawfly Diprion pini (Hymenoptera: Diprionidae) : Chemical identification, synthesis and biological activity

The main component of the sex pheromone secretion of femaleDiprion pini L. (Hymenoptera: Diprionidae) from insects collected both in Finland and in France has been identified as athreo-3,7-dimethyl-2-tridecanol (8 ng per female) stereoisomer by GC-MS and synthesis. The secretion also contains lower and higher homologues in small amounts (1–4% of the main component). Combined gas chromatographic-electroantennographic detection showed activity in both natural and esterified extracts (acetates and propionates); the esters of the main component gave the largest responses. The acetates and propionates of the eight stereoisomers of 3,7-dimethyl-2-tridecanol were synthesized from enantiomerically highly enriched (>99% ee) building blocks. The stereochemistry of the main component was established to be (2S,3R,7R)-3,7-dimethyl-2-tridecanol by GC analysis of the natural material. It was purified by liquid chromatography prior to the GC analysis of both its pentafluorobenzoates and its isopropylcarbamates on a non-chiral polar column (ECD) and a chiral column (NPD), respectively. Field tests demonstrated that both the acetate and propionate of the main component (100 μg of each applied on cotton roll dispensers) were active in attracting males, with or without the presence of several of the minor compounds. Experiments with smaller amounts of the acetate and the propionate (1 μg in France and 50 μg in Finland) demonstrated that the propionate was more active than the acetate, and that it also caught more males than a blend of the two compounds.

Pheromone related-compounds in pupal and adult female pine sawflies, neodiprion-sertifer, of different age and in different parts of the body

Abstract The pine sawfly pheromone precursor 3,7-dimethyl-2-pentadecanol (diprionol) was quantified by gas chromatography in different body parts of virgin female Neodiprion sertifer . About one-third of the total amount (approx. 10 ng per female) was found in each of head + thorax, abdominal segments 1–3, and the remaining abdomen. Diprionol was also found in the respective parts of pupae, but in lower amounts. This suggests that at least the final steps of the pheromone biosynthesis take place in many parts of the body, possibly in the cuticle. The diprionol content remained relatively constant over the whole lifetime of virgin females. By using coupled gas chromatography-electroantennogram detection three active compounds in the acetylated female extract were observed. These corresponded to the pheromone, (2 S ,3 S ,7 S )-diprionyl acetate, and its homologues with the chain shortened by one and two carbons respectively, as determined by gas chromatography-mass spectrometry. In addition, the homologue having a chain elongated by one carbon was found. The homologues occurred in amounts of 2–5% of the diprionyl acetate. When synthetic homologues were tested in the field, alone or in combination with diprionyl acetate, they were not behaviourally active to male sawflies, despite their electroantennogram activity. A threo -isomer of diprionol, most likely (2 S ,3 R ,7 R ), was present in the females in amounts less than 0.5% of the (2 S ,3 S ,7 S )-content. The acetate of this threo -isomer is known as both synergist and inhibitor to the (2 S ,3 S ,7 S )-isomer. trans -Perillenal was found in the abdominal segments 1–3 of both males and females and its possible biosynthetic relationship to diprionol is discussed.