Drosophila ananassae

Behavioral response of males to major sex pheromone component, (Z,Z)-5,25-hentriacontadiene, of Drosophila ananassae females. 7. Chem. Ecol., 23, 2067-2078. 

Z,25Z)-Hentriaconta-5,25-diene (A211) as well as the less active (4Z,26Z)-4,26-hentriacontadiene (A212), components of the mixture of cuticular hydrocarbons present in females of the fruit fly of Drosophila ananassae, release courtship of males.475... 

The major sex pheromone component of Drosophila ananassae and D. pallidosa, (Z,Z)-5,25-hentriacondiene 16 and (Z,Z)-5,27-tritriacontadiene 17, respectively, have been synthesized by applying sulfone alkylation and subsequent Sml2-induced reductive removal of the benzenesulfonyl moiety (Scheme 22.5). ... 

Morita A, Matsuyama S, Oguma Y, Kuwahara S. Simple synthesis of the major sex pheromone components of Drosophila ananassae and D-paUidosa. Biosci. Biotechnol. Biochem. 2005 69(8) 1620-1623. 

In the melanogaster subgroup, the same enzyme Desatl seems to be involved in the first desaturation step of pheromone synthesis (Figure 4.7), even if the specificity concerning the desaturation is somewhat modified (for example, in D. erecta, stearic acid is used for the first desaturation, instead of palmitic acid as in other species). In other Drosophila species, other enzymes could be involved Desat2 in D. ananassae and another yet unknown desaturase in D. virilis. The position of the double bond on carbon 11 in the latter species could indicate either that the desaturase acts on C20 saturated fatty acid, or that it has another unknown specificity, resembling the unusual specificities of some lepidopteran desaturases. 

The desatF gene is present in all genomes of the melanogaster subgroup, even when it is not expressed (unpublished data). It also seems to be present in the Sophophora subgenus but absent from the Drosophila one (Ritchie, unpublished data). In most species, pheromones have unusual desaturations at position 23 in D. erecta (Pechine et al 1988), 25 in D. ananassae (Doi et al., 1997) and 27 in D. pallidosa (Nemoto et al 1994). In D. virilis... 

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