PT  - JOURNAL ARTICLE
AU  - Kathleen M. Zelle
AU  - Xitong Liang
AU  - Yehuda Ben-Shahar
TI  - Pleiotropic chemoreceptors facilitate the maintenance of signal-receptor coupling in pheromonal communication
AID  - 10.1101/124305
DP  - 2017 Jan 01
TA  - bioRxiv
PG  - 124305
4099  - http://biorxiv.org/content/early/2017/06/02/124305.short
4100  - http://biorxiv.org/content/early/2017/06/02/124305.full
AB  - Signal diversity in communication systems plays an essential role in maintaining mating boundaries between closely related species. To preserve fitness, it has been hypothesized that signal-receptor coupling is maintained via strong purifying selection. However, because strong negative selection antagonizes diversity, how communication systems retain their potential for diversification is puzzling. We propose that one possible solution to this conundrum is receptor pleiotropy. Specifically, we demonstrate that Gr8a, a member of the gustatory receptor family in Drosophila, is a pleiotropic receptor that contributes to both the perception and production of inhibitory mating pheromones in the peripheral nervous system and pheromone producing oenocytes, respectively. Together, our data provide an elegant genetic solution to a long-standing evolutionary conundrum.One Sentence Summary The Drosophila chemoreceptor Gr8a contributes to the maintenance of pheromonal signal-receptor coupling via its pleiotropic action in both the perception and production of mating pheromones.