Cloacal

One well-analysed chemosignal system is that of the Red-bellied Newt (Cynops pyrrhogaster). Males of this species produce from the abdominal gland a semiochemical protein (sodefrin) with marked VNO activity as a female attractant (Kikuyama et al., 1997). Courtship displays of newts often contain tail-waving bouts, which direct cloacal or other secretions from the male toward female recipients (Fig. 3.1). A large stable molecule like sodefrin, alone or as part of a VNPr complex, is presumably suitable for such local transference. 

Cooper W.E. Jr. (1995). Effects of estrogen and male head coloration on chemosensory investigation of female cloacal pheromones by male broad-headed skinks (Eumeces laticeps). Physiol Behav 58, 1221-1225. 

Graves B.M. and Duvall D. (1988). Evidence of an alarm pheromone from the cloacal secs of prairie rattlesnakes. Southwest Nat 33, 339-346. 

Kikuyama S., Toyoda F., Ohmiya Y., Matsuda K., et al. (1995). Sodefrin a female-attracting peptide hormone in newt cloacal glands. Science 267, 1643-1645. 

Gunnarsson S., Keeling L.J. and Svedberg J. (1999). Effect of rearing factors on the prevalence of floor eggs, cloacal cannibalism and feather pecking in commercial flocks of loose housed laying hens , British Poultry Science, 40, 12-18. 

Male red-backed salamanders Plethodon cinereus) in Petri dishes were given a choice between own feces and those of another male. They preferred their own. The same was true for washes from the cloacal glands (Simon and Madison, 1984). While this may represent discrimination of own and other, rather than true individual recognition, another experiment showed... 

FIGURE 7.4 A female brown tree snake discharges cloacal defense secretion. (From Greene and Mason, 2000.)... 

The cloacal secretion ofL. dulcis also repels its predators, ophiophagous snakes. All flve species of the tested colubrid snakes are repelled, including the ophiophagous species Diadophis punctatus and Lampmpeltis triangulum. However, the cloacal secretion attracts conspecifics. This attraction possibly evolved first as the most important function of the secretion for the blind snakes (Watkins et ah, 1969). 

Cooper, W. E. and Trauth, S. E. (1992). Discrimination of conspecific male and female cloacal chemical stimuli by males and possession of a probable pheromone gland by females in a cordylid lizard, Gerrhosaurus nigrolineatus. Herpetologia 48,229-232. 

Sever, D. M. (1988). MaleR tyfl otn towo(y/7ipt iw,Dicamptodontidae Urodela, has aunique cloacal vent gland. Herpetologica 44,274-280. 

Simon, G. S. and Madison, D. M. (1984). Individual recognition in salamanders cloacal odors. Animal Behaviour 32,1017-1020. 

Thiazole-containing linear peptides have also been isolated from tunicates. Virenamides A-E (412-416) were obtained from the didemnid tunicate Diplosoma virens, which contains symbiotic prokaryotic algae in its cloacal cavity. The structures of virenamides A-C were determined by HPLC analysis using Marfey s procedure [323] while the absolute stereochemistry of virenamide E (416) was proven by its synthesis from virenamide A (412) [324], Compounds 412-416 showed modest cytotoxicity toward a panel of cultured cells and 412 also exhibited topoisomerase II inhibitory activity. 

Proteus morganii (IFO 3848) or Erwinia herbicolo (ATCC 21433) or Enterobacter cloacal (ATCC 7256) ---------------------------------- ... 

Courtship in some species of newts involves elaborate aquatic displays by the male. These displays are designed to entice the female newt to pass over sperm-containing spermatophores that the male has previously deposited onto the surface of the sediment. If the male is successful, the female newt picks up the spermatophore with her cloacal lips and stores the spermatophore internally, which then fertilizes her ova as they are laid singly on surfaces in the aquatic habitat. 

A separate, more complex group of anomalies is formed by the cloacal malformations, in which the urinary, genital and intestinal tracts converge to form a common channel with a single perineal orifice, i.e. the cloaca. These malformations are found exclusively in phenotypic females. 

Kikuyama, S., Toyota, F Ohmiya, Y., Matsuda, K., Tanaka, S., and Hayashi, H., 1995, Sodefnn A female-attracting peptide pheromone in newt cloacal glands. Science 267 1643-1645. 

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