Dataset Information

Unusual macrocyclic lactone sex pheromone of Parcoblatta lata, a primary food source of the endangered red-cockaded woodpecker.

ABSTRACT: Wood cockroaches in the genus Parcoblatta, comprising 12 species endemic to North America, are highly abundant in southeastern pine forests and represent an important prey of the endangered red-cockaded woodpecker, Picoides borealis. The broad wood cockroach, Parcoblatta lata, is among the largest and most abundant of the wood cockroaches, constituting >50% of the biomass of the woodpecker's diet. Because reproduction in red-cockaded woodpeckers is affected dramatically by seasonal and spatial changes in arthropod availability, monitoring P. lata populations could serve as a useful index of habitat suitability for woodpecker conservation and forest management efforts. Female P. lata emit a volatile, long-distance sex pheromone, which, once identified and synthesized, could be deployed for monitoring cockroach populations. We describe here the identification, synthesis, and confirmation of the chemical structure of this pheromone as (4Z,11Z)-oxacyclotrideca-4,11-dien-2-one [= (3Z,10Z)-dodecadienolide; herein referred to as "parcoblattalactone"]. This macrocyclic lactone is a previously unidentified natural product and a previously unknown pheromonal structure for cockroaches, highlighting the great chemical diversity that characterizes olfactory communication in cockroaches: Each long-range sex pheromone identified to date from different genera belongs to a different chemical class. Parcoblattalactone was biologically active in electrophysiological assays and attracted not only P. lata but also several other Parcoblatta species in pine forests, underscoring its utility in monitoring several endemic wood cockroach species in red-cockaded woodpecker habitats.

SUBMITTER: Eliyahu D

PROVIDER: S-EPMC3286908 | biostudies-other | 2012 Feb

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-other

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Unusual macrocyclic lactone sex pheromone of Parcoblatta lata, a primary food source of the endangered red-cockaded woodpecker.

Eliyahu Dorit D Nojima Satoshi S Santangelo Richard G RG Carpenter Shannon S Webster Francis X FX Kiemle David J DJ Gemeno Cesar C Leal Walter S WS Schal Coby C

Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America 20111219 8

Wood cockroaches in the genus Parcoblatta, comprising 12 species endemic to North America, are highly abundant in southeastern pine forests and represent an important prey of the endangered red-cockaded woodpecker, Picoides borealis. The broad wood cockroach, Parcoblatta lata, is among the largest and most abundant of the wood cockroaches, constituting >50% of the biomass of the woodpecker's diet. Because reproduction in red-cockaded woodpeckers is affected dramatically by seasonal and spatial c ...[more]

PMID: 22184232

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Project description:BACKGROUND:For dogs and cats, chemoprophylaxis with macrocyclic lactone (ML) preventives for heartworm disease is widely used in the United States and other countries. Since 2005, cases of loss of efficacy (LOE) of heartworm preventives have been reported in the U.S. More recently, ML-resistant D. immitis isolates were confirmed. Previous work identified 42 genetic markers that could predict ML response in individual samples. For field surveillance, it would be more appropriate to work on microfilarial pools from individual dogs with a smaller subset of genetic markers. METHODS:MiSeq technology was used to identify allele frequencies with the 42 genetic markers previously reported. Microfilaria from ten well-characterized new isolates called ZoeKY, ZoeMI, ZoeGCFL, ZoeAL, ZoeMP3, ZoeMO, ZoeAMAL, ZoeLA, ZoeJYD-34, and Metairie were extracted from fresh blood from dogs. DNA were extracted and sequenced with MiSeq technology. Allele frequencies were calculated and compared with the previously reported susceptible, LOE, and resistant D. immitis populations. RESULTS:The allele frequencies identified in the current resistant and susceptible isolates were in accordance with the allele frequencies previously reported in related phenotypes. The ZoeMO population, a subset of the ZoeJYD-34 population, showed a genetic profile that was consistent with some reversion towards susceptibility compared with the parental ZoeJYD-34 population. The Random Forest algorithm was used to create a predictive model using different SNPs. The model with a combination of three SNPs (NODE_42411_RC, NODE_21554_RC, and NODE_45689) appears to be suitable for future monitoring. CONCLUSIONS:MiSeq technology provided a suitable methodology to work with the microfilarial samples. The list of SNPs that showed good predictability for ML resistance was narrowed. Additional phenotypically well characterized D. immitis isolates are required to finalize the best set of SNPs to be used for large scale ML resistance screening.

Project description:BackgroundInsects use pheromones, chemical signals that underlie all animal behaviors, for communication and for attracting mates. Synthetic pheromones are widely used in pest control strategies because they are environmentally safe. The production of insect pheromones in transgenic plants, which could be more economical and effective in producing isomerically pure compounds, has recently been successfully demonstrated. This research requires information regarding the pheromone biosynthetic pathways and the characterization of pheromone biosynthetic enzymes (PBEs). We used Illumina sequencing to characterize the pheromone gland (PG) transcriptome of the Pyralid moth, Ephestia cautella, a destructive storage pest, to reveal putative candidate genes involved in pheromone biosynthesis, release, transport and degradation.ResultsWe isolated the E. cautella pheromone compound as (Z,E)-9,12-tetradecadienyl acetate, and the major pheromone precursors 16:acyl, 14:acyl, E14-16:acyl, E12-14:acyl and Z9,E12-14:acyl. Based on the abundance of precursors, two possible pheromone biosynthetic pathways are proposed. Both pathways initiate from C16:acyl-CoA, with one involving ∆14 and ∆9 desaturation to generate Z9,E12-14:acyl, and the other involving the chain shortening of C16:acyl-CoA to C14:acyl-CoA, followed by ∆12 and ∆9 desaturation to generate Z9,E12-14:acyl-CoA. Then, a final reduction and acetylation generates Z9,E12-14:OAc. Illumina sequencing yielded 83,792 transcripts, and we obtained a PG transcriptome of ~49.5 Mb. A total of 191 PBE transcripts, which included pheromone biosynthesis activating neuropeptides, fatty acid transport proteins, acetyl-CoA carboxylases, fatty acid synthases, desaturases, β-oxidation enzymes, fatty acyl-CoA reductases (FARs) and fatty acetyltransferases (FATs), were selected from the dataset. A comparison of the E. cautella transcriptome data with three other Lepidoptera PG datasets revealed that 45% of the sequences were shared. Phylogenetic trees were constructed for desaturases, FARs and FATs, and transcripts that clustered with the ∆14, ∆12 and ∆9 desaturases, PG-specific FARs and potential candidate FATs, respectively, were identified. Transcripts encoding putative pheromone degrading enzymes, and candidate pheromone carrier and receptor proteins expressed in the E. cautella PG, were also identified.ConclusionsOur study provides important background information on the enzymes involved in pheromone biosynthesis. This information will be useful for the in vitro production of E. cautella sex pheromones and may provide potential targets for disrupting the pheromone-based communication system of E. cautella to prevent infestations.

Dataset Information

Unusual macrocyclic lactone sex pheromone of Parcoblatta lata, a primary food source of the endangered red-cockaded woodpecker.

Publications

Unusual macrocyclic lactone sex pheromone of Parcoblatta lata, a primary food source of the endangered red-cockaded woodpecker.

Similar Datasets

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