Pheromones elephants

Our recent NSF-funded collaboration with Bets has yielded, for example, the first statistically significant evidence that male African elephants can distinguish conspecific female urine collected at the time of ovulation from urine obtained at the mid-luteal time of the estrous cycle (Bagley, Goodwin, Rasmussen and Schulte 2006). Additionally, we have published the first report of insect pheromones in the urine of female African elephants (Goodwin, Eggert, House, Weddell, Schulte and Rasmussen 2006). These findings bode well for the eventual discovery of the first African elephant pheromones. 

Use of Automated Solid Phase Dynamic Extraction (SPDE)/GC-MS and Novel Macros in the Search for African Elephant Pheromones ... 

Goodwin, T.E., Brown, P., Eggert, M., Evola, M., House, S., Morshedi, G., Weddell, M., Chen, J., Jackson, S.R., Aubut, Y., Eggert, J., Schulte, B.A. and Rasmussen, L.E.L. (2007) Use of automated solid phase dynamic extraction (SPDE)/GC-MS and novel macros in the search for African elephant pheromones. In J. Hurst, R. Beynon C. Roberts and T. Wyatt (Eds.), Chemical Signals in Vertebrates 11. Springer Press, New York, pp. 20-29. 

The female elephant pheromone (Z)-7-dodecenyl acetate occurs bound to urinary proteins. When it is taken up by a male elephant, the acetate is bound to proteins of the trunk mucus. This might facilitate transport of the pheromone to the vicinity of the sensory epithelium of the vomeronasal organ (Rasmussen and Schulte, 1998). 

We have employed automated headspace SPME/GC-MS and SPDE/GC-MS in our search for elephant pheromones (41). Currently, we are developing a new... 

The structural similarities between the putative mammalian chemosignals and the pheromones identified previously in the insect world are quite striking. The farnesenes [257, 258] (entries 66, 67) and 2-heptanone [259] (entry 68) have been implicated previously as insect pheromones. There is only one double bond distinguishing the male mouse pheromone 3,4-dehydro-exo-brevicomin (entry 65) from a bark beetle pheromone [260], brevicomin. In addition, the elephant pheromone (Z)-7-dodecen-l-yl acetate (entry 69) is also known to be an insect pheromone [259]. While the potency may not compare to the insect system, investigators are beginning to find evidence that many mammals ranging from pigs to elephants can have a pheromone-type response to a sniff of secretions even humans appear to respond [261],... 

PodeceHyl acetate see tetradecenyl acetate and elephant pheromone. 

Elephant pheromone. Female elephants, e.g., the Asian elephant (Elephas maximus), use (Z)-7-dodece-nyl acetate (C,4H2602, Mr 226.36, oil) as a pheromone to indicate their readiness for mating. The same compound is also used by more than 126 species of insects, especially by lepidoptera (butterflies), in their pheromone mixtures for attracting males. ... 

CisHjaOj, Mr 254.41, oil. The typical basic structure of many sexual pheromones of butterflies. Particularly widely distributed are 6-, 8- and 12-, as well as (Z)-9-T. and ( )-11-tetradecenyl acetate. The corresponding fiee alcohols and aldehydes are also known as pheromones. Dodecenyl acetates (C 4Hjt02, Mr 226.36, oil) and dodecyl acetates are also widely distributed. ( -7-Dodecenyl acetate is particularly abundant and is also known as the sexual pheromone of elephants see elephant pheromone. 

In rabbits, the as yet unidentified maternal signal during lactation has analogous properties in guiding the reliable orientation of suckling, mainly via MOS input (Hudson and Distel, 1986 Schaal et al., unpubl.). Minor fractions may still function as flag contributors, exemplified by the attractiveness of proestrous elephant urine. Male responses show that intact urine is conspicuously more attractive in comparison with the pure insect mammal pheromone (9.) presented in water (Rasmussen et al., 1996). 

Rasmussen L.E.L., Lee T.D., Daves G. and Schmidt M.J. (1993). Female-to-male sex-pheromones of low volatility in the Asian Elephant, Elephas maximus. J Chem Ecol 19, 2115-2128. 

Rasmussen, L.E.L. (2001) Source and cyclic release pattern of Z-7-dodecenyl acetate, the preovulatory pheromone of the female Asian elephant. Chem. Senses 26, 611-623. 

Rasmussen, L.E.L. and Riddle, S.W. (2004b) Development and initial testing of pheromone-enhanced mechanical devices for deterring crop raiding elephants A positive conservation step. J. Eleph. Manag. Assoc. 15, 30-37. 

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. 

Abstract A relatively small number of mammalian pheromones has been identified, in contrast to a plethora of known insect pheromones, but two remarkable Asian elephant/insect pheromonal linkages have been elucidated, namely, (Z)-7-dodecen-1-yl acetate and frontalin. In addition, behavioral bioassays have demonstrated the presence of a chemical signal in the urine of female African elephants around the time of ovulation. Our search for possible ovulatory pheromones in the headspace over female African elephant urine has revealed for the first time the presence of a number of known insect pheromones. This search has been facilitated by the use of a powerful new analytical technique, automated solid phase dynamic extraction (SPDE)/GC-MS, as well as by novel macros for enhanced and rapid comparison of multiple mass spectral data files from Agilent ChemStation . This chapter will focus on our methodologies and results, as well as on a comparison of SPDE and the more established techniques of solid phase microextraction (SPME) and stir bar sorptive extraction (SBSE). 

Compared to the large number of chemical signals identified in insects, only a small number of proven mammalian pheromones are known, two of which have been identified in elephants (Albone 1984 Brown and Macdonald 1985 Wyatt 2003 Burger 2005). Female Asian elephants (Elephas maximus) release a... 

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