ArticlePLoS biology2021
A novel terpene synthase controls differences in anti-aphrodisiac pheromone production between closely related Heliconius butterflies.
Article in PLoS biology, 2021. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 13 papers.
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13 citing papers in PubMed, 42 citations in OpenAlex.
- Expansion of the geranylgeranyl pyrophosphate synthase gene family underlies the evolution of terpenoid biosynthesis in termites.PLoS biology · 2026Article
- Canonical terpene synthases in arthropods: Intraphylum gene transfer.Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America · 2024Article
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- Advancement of Carotenogenesis of Astaxanthin from Haematococcus pluvialis: Recent Insight and Way Forward.Molecular biotechnology · 2024Review
- Emergence of terpene chemical communication in insects: Evolutionary recruitment of isoprenoid metabolism.Protein science : a publication of the Protein Society · 2023Article
- Biosynthesis and the Transcriptional Regulation of Terpenoids in Tea Plants (International journal of molecular sciences · 2023Review
- Differential gene expression underlying the biosynthesis of Dufour's gland signals inCurrent research in insect science · 2023Article
- Widespread Gene Expression Divergence in Butterfly Sensory Tissues Plays a Fundamental Role During Reproductive Isolation and Speciation.Molecular biology and evolution · 2022Article
- Identification of a queen primer pheromone in higher termites.Communications biology · 2022Article
- Engineering plant family TPS into cyanobacterial host for terpenoids production.Plant cell reports · 2022Review
- Identification and Composition of Clasper Scent Gland Components of the Butterfly Heliconius erato and Its Relation to Mimicry.Chembiochem : a European journal of chemical biology · 2021Article
- Evolutionary trade-offs between male secondary sexual traits revealed by a phylogeny of the hyperdiverse tribe Eumaeini (Lepidoptera: Lycaenidae).Proceedings. Biological sciences · 2021Article
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Authors and funding
15 authors at 5 institutions in 4 countries.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
Plants and insects often use the same compounds for chemical communication, but not much is known about the genetics of convergent evolution of chemical signals. The terpene (E)-β-ocimene is a common component of floral scent and is also used by the butterfly Heliconius melpomene as an anti-aphrodisiac pheromone. While the biosynthesis of terpenes has been described in plants and microorganisms, few terpene synthases (TPSs) have been identified in insects. Here, we study the recent divergence of 2 species, H. melpomene and Heliconius cydno, which differ in the presence of (E)-β-ocimene; combining linkage mapping, gene expression, and functional analyses, we identify 2 novel TPSs. Furthermore, we demonstrate that one, HmelOS, is able to synthesise (E)-β-ocimene in vitro. We find no evidence for TPS activity in HcydOS (HmelOS ortholog of H. cydno), suggesting that the loss of (E)-β-ocimene in this species is the result of coding, not regulatory, differences. The TPS enzymes we discovered are unrelated to previously described plant and insect TPSs, demonstrating that chemical convergence has independent evolutionary origins.
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