ArticlePLoS biology2021
Modulation of fatty acid elongation in cockroaches sustains sexually dimorphic hydrocarbons and female attractiveness.
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 21 papers.
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Who cites it
21 citing papers in PubMed, 40 citations in OpenAlex.
- Lipid Metabolism as a Target Site in Pest Control.Advances in experimental medicine and biology · 2026Review
- Insect Lipids: Structure, Classification and Function.Advances in experimental medicine and biology · 2026Review
- Fatty Acid Origin of Insect Pheromones.Advances in experimental medicine and biology · 2026Review
- An ovarian insulin-like peptide specifically regulates energy allocation and oocyte development in nutrition-restricted cockroaches.BMC biology · 2025Article
- The pigment transporter Redboy confers programmed body colour transition in orchid mantises.Nature ecology & evolution · 2025Article
- Regulatory changes in the fatty acid elongase eloF underlie the evolution of sex-specific pheromone profiles in Drosophila prolongata.BMC biology · 2025Article
- Ultrastructure and Transcriptome Analysis of the Larval Integument in Solitary and Gregarious Phases ofInsects · 2025Article
- Screening and identification of antimicrobial peptides from the gut microbiome of cockroach Blattella germanica.Microbiome · 2024Article
- Genetic Underpinnings of Cuticular Hydrocarbon Biosynthesis in the German Cockroach, Blattella germanica (L.): Progress and Perspectives.Journal of chemical ecology · 2024Review
- Regulatory Changes in the Fatty Acid ElongasebioRxiv : the preprint server for biology · 2024Article
- Chemical and transcriptomic diversity do not correlate with ascending levels of social complexity in the insect order Blattodea.Ecology and evolution · 2024Article
- Female semiochemicals stimulate male courtship but dampen female sexual receptivity.Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America · 2023Article
- Chemical communication and its role in sexual selection across Animalia.Communications biology · 2023Review
- Integrating lipid metabolism, pheromone production and perception by Fruitless and Hepatocyte Nuclear Factor 4.Science advances · 2023Article
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- Integrating lipid metabolism, pheromone production and perception by Fruitless and Hepatocyte nuclear factor 4.bioRxiv : the preprint server for biology · 2023Article
- Intrasexual cuticular hydrocarbon dimorphism in a wasp sheds light on hydrocarbon biosynthesis genes in Hymenoptera.Communications biology · 2023Article
- Evolutionary History of Sexual Differentiation Mechanism in Insects.Molecular biology and evolution · 2022Article
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Authors and funding
9 authors at 3 institutions in 2 countries.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
Insect cuticular hydrocarbons (CHCs) serve as important intersexual signaling chemicals and generally show variation between the sexes, but little is known about the generation of sexually dimorphic hydrocarbons (SDHCs) in insects. In this study, we report the molecular mechanism and biological significance that underlie the generation of SDHC in the German cockroach Blattella germanica. Sexually mature females possess more C29 CHCs, especially the contact sex pheromone precursor 3,11-DimeC29. RNA interference (RNAi) screen against the fatty acid elongase family members combined with heterologous expression of the genes in yeast revealed that both BgElo12 and BgElo24 were involved in hydrocarbon (HC) production, but BgElo24 is of wide catalytic activities and is able to provide substrates for BgElo12, and only the female-enriched BgElo12 is responsible for sustaining female-specific HC profile. Repressing BgElo12 masculinized the female CHC profile, decreased contact sex pheromone level, and consequently reduced the sexual attractiveness of female cockroaches. Moreover, the asymmetric expression of BgElo12 between the sexes is modulated by sex differentiation cascade. Specifically, male-specific BgDsx represses the transcription of BgElo12 in males, while BgTra is able to remove this effect in females. Our study reveals a novel molecular mechanism responsible for the formation of SDHCs and also provide evidences on shaping of the SDHCs by sexual selection, as females use them to generate high levels of contact sex pheromone.
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