Cuticular Hydrocarbon Pheromones for Social Behavior and Their Coding in the Ant Antenna

Kavita R. Sharma; Brittany L. Enzmann; Yvonne Schmidt; Dani Moore; Graeme R. Jones; Jane Parker; Shelley L. Berger; Danny Reinberg; Laurence J. Zwiebel; Bernhard Breit; Juergen Liebig; Anandasankar Ray

doi:10.1016/j.celrep.2015.07.031

Cuticular Hydrocarbon Pheromones for Social Behavior and Their Coding in the Ant Antenna

Kavita R. Sharma, Brittany L. Enzmann, Yvonne Schmidt, Dani Moore, Graeme R. Jones, Jane Parker, Shelley L. Berger, Danny Reinberg, Laurence J. Zwiebel, Bernhard Breit, Juergen Liebig, Anandasankar Ray

Life Sciences, School of (SOLS)

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

103 Scopus citations

Abstract

The sophisticated organization of eusocial insect societies is largely based on the regulation of complex behaviors by hydrocarbon pheromones present on the cuticle. We used electrophysiology to investigate the detection of cuticular hydrocarbons (CHCs) by female-specific olfactory sensilla basiconica on the antenna of Camponotus floridanus ants through the utilization of one of the largest family of odorant receptors characterized so far in insects. These sensilla, each of which contains multiple olfactory receptor neurons, are differentially sensitive to CHCs and allow them to be classified into three broad groups that collectively detect every hydrocarbon tested, including queen and worker-enriched CHCs. This broad-spectrum sensitivity is conserved in a related species, Camponotus laevigatus, allowing these ants to detect CHCs from both nestmates and non-nestmates. Behavioral assays demonstrate that these ants are excellent at discriminating CHCs detected by the antenna, including enantiomers of a candidate queen pheromone that regulates the reproductive division of labor.

Original language	English (US)
Article number	1940
Pages (from-to)	1261-1271
Number of pages	11
Journal	Cell Reports
Volume	12
Issue number	8
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1016/j.celrep.2015.07.031
State	Published - Aug 25 2015

ASJC Scopus subject areas

General Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology

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title = "Cuticular Hydrocarbon Pheromones for Social Behavior and Their Coding in the Ant Antenna",

abstract = "The sophisticated organization of eusocial insect societies is largely based on the regulation of complex behaviors by hydrocarbon pheromones present on the cuticle. We used electrophysiology to investigate the detection of cuticular hydrocarbons (CHCs) by female-specific olfactory sensilla basiconica on the antenna of Camponotus floridanus ants through the utilization of one of the largest family of odorant receptors characterized so far in insects. These sensilla, each of which contains multiple olfactory receptor neurons, are differentially sensitive to CHCs and allow them to be classified into three broad groups that collectively detect every hydrocarbon tested, including queen and worker-enriched CHCs. This broad-spectrum sensitivity is conserved in a related species, Camponotus laevigatus, allowing these ants to detect CHCs from both nestmates and non-nestmates. Behavioral assays demonstrate that these ants are excellent at discriminating CHCs detected by the antenna, including enantiomers of a candidate queen pheromone that regulates the reproductive division of labor.",

author = "Sharma, {Kavita R.} and Enzmann, {Brittany L.} and Yvonne Schmidt and Dani Moore and Jones, {Graeme R.} and Jane Parker and Berger, {Shelley L.} and Danny Reinberg and Zwiebel, {Laurence J.} and Bernhard Breit and Juergen Liebig and Anandasankar Ray",

note = "Funding Information: We would like to acknowledge Les Greenberg for helping to collect ant colonies; Majid Ghaninia for developing the stimulus delivery method; Jocelyn Millar for discussions; and Claude Desplan, Greg Pask, Jesse Slone, Xiaofan Zhou, and Roberto Bonasio for comments on the manuscript. This work was funded by the Howard Hughes Medical Institute Hughes Collaboration Innovation Award (to D.R., S.B., J.L., C.D., L.J.Z., and A.R.). A.R. is a founder and shareholder of Olfactor Labs, Inc., and Sensorygen, Inc. L.J.Z. and A.R. are listed as inventors in pending patent application by Vanderbilt University and University of California Riverside. Publisher Copyright: {\textcopyright} 2015 The Authors.",

year = "2015",

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doi = "10.1016/j.celrep.2015.07.031",

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AU - Sharma, Kavita R.

AU - Enzmann, Brittany L.

AU - Schmidt, Yvonne

AU - Moore, Dani

AU - Jones, Graeme R.

AU - Parker, Jane

AU - Berger, Shelley L.

AU - Reinberg, Danny

AU - Zwiebel, Laurence J.

AU - Breit, Bernhard

AU - Liebig, Juergen

AU - Ray, Anandasankar

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PY - 2015/8/25

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N2 - The sophisticated organization of eusocial insect societies is largely based on the regulation of complex behaviors by hydrocarbon pheromones present on the cuticle. We used electrophysiology to investigate the detection of cuticular hydrocarbons (CHCs) by female-specific olfactory sensilla basiconica on the antenna of Camponotus floridanus ants through the utilization of one of the largest family of odorant receptors characterized so far in insects. These sensilla, each of which contains multiple olfactory receptor neurons, are differentially sensitive to CHCs and allow them to be classified into three broad groups that collectively detect every hydrocarbon tested, including queen and worker-enriched CHCs. This broad-spectrum sensitivity is conserved in a related species, Camponotus laevigatus, allowing these ants to detect CHCs from both nestmates and non-nestmates. Behavioral assays demonstrate that these ants are excellent at discriminating CHCs detected by the antenna, including enantiomers of a candidate queen pheromone that regulates the reproductive division of labor.

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Cuticular Hydrocarbon Pheromones for Social Behavior and Their Coding in the Ant Antenna

Abstract

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