德国马克斯·普朗克化学生态学研究所的科研人员报告了一种来自果蝇的称为月桂酸甲酯的有气味化合物可能起到了调控交配的一种信息素的作用，而且，它与其它两种来自蝇的化合物肉豆蔻酸甲酯以及棕榈酸甲酯联合起来，可能通过一种机制调控配偶吸引，这种机制有别于求偶机制。

 

    原文链接：Pheromones mediating copulation and attraction in Drosophila

 

    原文摘要：Intraspecific olfactory signals known as pheromones play important roles in insect mating systems. In the model Drosophila melanogaster, a key part of the pheromone-detecting system has remained enigmatic through many years of research in terms of both its behavioral significance and its activating ligands. Here we show that Or47b-and Or88a-expressing olfactory sensory neurons (OSNs) detect the fly-produced odorants methyl laurate (ML), methyl myristate, and methyl palmitate. Fruitless (fruM)-positive Or47b-expressing OSNs detect ML exclusively, and Or47b- and Or47b-expressing OSNs are required for optimal male copulation behavior. In addition, activation of Or47b-expressing OSNs in the male is sufficient to provide a competitive mating advantage. We further find that the vigorous male courtship displayed toward oenocyte-less flies is attributed to an oenocyte-independent sustained production of the Or47b ligand, ML. In addition, we reveal that Or88a-expressing OSNs respond to all three compounds, and that these neurons are necessary and sufficient for attraction behavior in both males and females. Beyond the OSN level, information regarding the three fly odorants is transferred from the antennal lobe to higher brain centers in two dedicated neural lines. Finally, we find that both Or47b- and Or88a-based systems and their ligands are remarkably conserved over a number of drosophilid species. Taken together, our results close a significant gap in the understanding of the olfactory background to Drosophila mating and attraction behavior; while reproductive isolation barriers between species are created mainly by species-specific signals, the mating enhancing signal in several Drosophila species is conserved.