ArticlePLoS biology2009
Rapid evolution of sex pheromone-producing enzyme expression in Drosophila.
Article in PLoS biology, 2009. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 131 papers.
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Who cites it
131 citing papers in PubMed, 247 citations in OpenAlex.
- Sex of central neurons controls intestinal niche signalling to drive sex differences in stem cell activity and cancer susceptibility.Nature communications · 2026Article
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- Evolutionary basis of male same-sex sexual behavior by multiple pheromone switches in Drosophila.Current biology : CB · 2026Article
- Sex-Specific doublesex Regulation Targeting the Color-Patterning Gene h Underlies the Evolution of Wing Sexual Dimorphism in the Harlequin Ladybug Harmonia axyridis.Evolution & development · 2026Article
- From neurons to novelty: Circuit mechanisms shaping courtship evolution.Current opinion in neurobiology · 2025Review
- Evolutionary basis of intermale sexual behavior by multiple pheromone switches inbioRxiv : the preprint server for biology · 2025Article
- Reproductive Barriers and Genomic Hotspots of Adaptation During Allopatric Species Divergence.Molecular ecology · 2025Article
- The Tra/Dsx-JHBP axis controls female-specific gene expression and oviposition in locusts.PLoS biology · 2025Article
- Understanding the genetics of sex determination in insects and its relevance to genetic pest management.Insect molecular biology · 2025Review
- Regulatory changes in the fatty acid elongase eloF underlie the evolution of sex-specific pheromone profiles in Drosophila prolongata.BMC biology · 2025Article
- Two major-effect loci influence interspecific mating in females of the sibling species, Drosophila simulans and D. sechellia.G3 (Bethesda, Md.) · 2025Article
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- Regulatory Changes in the Fatty Acid ElongasebioRxiv : the preprint server for biology · 2024Article
- Cellular sex throughout the organism underlies somatic sexual differentiation.Nature communications · 2024Article
- Elevated ozone disrupts mating boundaries in drosophilid flies.Nature communications · 2024Article
- Genetic Coupling of Mate Recognition Systems in the Genomic Era.Cold Spring Harbor perspectives in biology · 2024Review
- A modular circuit architecture coordinates the diversification of courtship strategies inbioRxiv : the preprint server for biology · 2023Article
- Integrating lipid metabolism, pheromone production and perception by Fruitless and Hepatocyte Nuclear Factor 4.Science advances · 2023Article
- The rich non-coding RNA landscape of the Drosophila antenna.Cell reports · 2023Article
- Integrating lipid metabolism, pheromone production and perception by Fruitless and Hepatocyte nuclear factor 4.bioRxiv : the preprint server for biology · 2023Article
71 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
4 authors at 2 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
Abstract
A wide range of organisms use sex pheromones to communicate with each other and to identify appropriate mating partners. While the evolution of chemical communication has been suggested to cause sexual isolation and speciation, the mechanisms that govern evolutionary transitions in sex pheromone production are poorly understood. Here, we decipher the molecular mechanisms underlying the rapid evolution in the expression of a gene involved in sex pheromone production in Drosophilid flies. Long-chain cuticular hydrocarbons (e.g., dienes) are produced female-specifically, notably via the activity of the desaturase DESAT-F, and are potent pheromones for male courtship behavior in Drosophila melanogaster. We show that across the genus Drosophila, the expression of this enzyme is correlated with long-chain diene production and has undergone an extraordinary number of evolutionary transitions, including six independent gene inactivations, three losses of expression without gene loss, and two transitions in sex-specificity. Furthermore, we show that evolutionary transitions from monomorphism to dimorphism (and its reversion) in desatF expression involved the gain (and the inactivation) of a binding-site for the sex-determination transcription factor, DOUBLESEX. In addition, we documented a surprising example of the gain of particular cis-regulatory motifs of the desatF locus via a set of small deletions. Together, our results suggest that frequent changes in the expression of pheromone-producing enzymes underlie evolutionary transitions in chemical communication, and reflect changing regimes of sexual selection, which may have contributed to speciation among Drosophila.
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Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.