Pheromones chemical communication

Beauchamp G., Doty R.L., Moulton D.G. and Mugford R.A. (1976). The pheromone concept in mammalian chemical communication a critique. In Pheromones and Reproduction in Mammals (Doty R.L., ed.). Academic Press, New York, pp. 143-160. 

Novotny M., Harvey S. and Jemiolo B. (1995). Stereoselectivity in mammalian chemical communication male mouse pheromones. Experientia (Basel) 51, 738-743. 

Abstract Pheromones are utilized by many insects in a complex chemical communication system. This review will look at the biosynthesis of sex and aggregation pheromones in the model insects, moths, flies, cockroaches, and beetles. The biosynthetic pathways involve altered pathways of normal metabolism of fatty acids and isoprenoids. Endocrine regulation of the biosynthetic pathways will also be reviewed for the model insects. A neuropeptide named pheromone biosynthesis activating neuropeptide regulates sex pheromone biosynthesis in moths. Juvenile hormone regulates pheromone production in the beetles and cockroaches, while 20-hydroxyecdysone regulates pheromone production in the flies. 

Landolt PJ, Jeanne RL, Reed HC (1998) Chemical communication in social wasps. In Vander Meer RK, Breed MD, Espelie KE, Winston ML (eds) Pheromone communication in social insects ants, wasps, bees and termites. Westview Press, Boulder, Colorado,... 

Rasmussen, L.E.L. and Schulte, B.A. (1999) Ecological and biochemical constraints on pheromonal signaling systems in Asian elephants and their evolutionary implications. In R. Johnston, D. Miiller-Schwarze and P. Sorenson (Eds.), Advances in Chemical Communication in Vertebrates, Vol. 8 Kluwer Academic/Plenum Press, New York, pp. 46-62. 

Although proteinuria is often considered to be a pathological event, we demonstrated that this is not the case for the domestic cat. Male cat urine contains a large amount of the mammalian carboxylesterase family member termed cauxin. Cauxin is excreted in a species-, sex-, and age-dependent manner and regulates the production of felinine, a putative pheromone precursor. This finding provides an example of a previously unknown type of proteinuria involved in chemical communication. 

Johnston, R.E. (2003) Chemical communication in rodents From pheromones to individual recognition. J. Mammal. 84, 1141-1162. 

Johnston, R.E. (2000) Chemical communication and pheromones The types of chemical signals and the role of the vomeronasal system. In Finger T.E., Silver W.L., and Restrepo D. (Eds.), The Neurobiology of Taste and Smell. Wiley-Liss, New York, pp 101-127. 

Probably the best-studied communication behavior in ants is chemical communication, but other sensory modalities, such as mechanical cues, also play an important role in the formation of multicomponent signals in ant communication. Chemical releasers are produced in a variety of exocrine glands, and considerable progress has been made in chemically identifying many of these glandular secretions (for reviews see refs. 1 and 2). In this essay I will not emphasize, however, the natural product chemistry of ant pheromones, but rather concentrate on the proposition that communication in ant societies is often based on multicomponent signals, on nested levels of variation in chemical and other cues, which feature both anonymous and specific characteristics (3). 

The chemical communication system used to attract mates involves not only the overt chemical signals but also indirectly a great deal of chemistry in the emitter and receiver. As an example, in emitting female moths, this includes enzymes (and cofactors, mRNA, genes) of the pheromone biosynthetic pathways, hormones (and genes) involved in... 

This way of viewing the olfactory system spotlights the kinds of information about odor stimuli to which the brain attends. For example, although the blend of components is essential to evoke and sustain the normal male responses to the sex pheromone, information about specific components is preserved through many levels of the pathway. Thus it appears that information about single components as well as their blend may be important for chemical communication in these insects. 

Agosta, W. C. Chemical Communication The Language of Pheromones. New York Scientific American Library, 1992. 

The terminology used in this research area is not well established in the chemical community while the term pheromone is widely known, semio-chemical is not. Nevertheless, chemicals used in the communication between individuals are correctly called semiochemicals recently the equivalent term infochemicals was introduced. These compounds can be further divided into pheromones, compounds used in communication between individuals of the same species, while allelochemicals serve interspecific communication. Most pheromones are releasers, i.e. they provoke a behavioral change in the receiver. More rare are primers, which provoke physiological changes. Allelochemicals can be divided into kairomones, which are advantageous for the receiver, while the emitter benefits from allomones. Synomones are advantageous for both the emitter and the receiver. 

Keywords Mammalian semiochemicals Mammalian pheromones Mammalian exocrine secretions Chemical communication Territorial marking... 

Only a few compounds or mixtures of compounds have been shown beyond doubt to be mammalian pheromones. This is the main reason why the subject matter of this chapter is not restricted to pheromones and why exocrine secretions and other mammalian excretions in general will be discussed as possible sources of pheromones, even though their role in the chemical communication of the species under discussion has not yet been established. Feeding deterrents are not discussed. In general defensive secretions are also not discussed, but the anal sac secretions of the mustelids are included, because it is possible that these secretions could also fulfill a semiochemical role, in addition to being used for defense. 

Molecular recognition underlies chemical communication, including the phenomena of taste and smell. Pheromones are chemical communicators between individuals, usually members of the same species. Pheromone action has been demonstrated in a number of mammalian species. Several of these affect reproduction. It seems likely that there are human pheromones. The role of these in human behavior is not clear. 

Karlson and Luscher first introduced the term pheromone in 1959 in a publication about chemical communication in insects in the scientific journal NatureP A pheromone was viewed as a substance that is secreted or excreted into the environment by one individual that elicits some behavioral, developmental, or endocrine response when received by another individual of the same species. The behavioral change in the male silkworm moth in response to bombykol secreted into the environment by the female of the same species fits this mold, for example. 

Many examples of pheromone action are collected in two important books Tristram Wyatt s Pheromones and Animal Behavior and William Agosta s Chemical Communication The examples that follow here are taken from these books. They may be consulted both for additional details and further examples of pheromones. 

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