RT Journal Article
SR Electronic
T1 The scent of the fly
JF bioRxiv
FD Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory
SP 206375
DO 10.1101/206375
A1 Becher, Paul G.
A1 Lebreton, Sebastien
A1 Wallin, Erika A.
A1 Hedenström, Erik
A1 Borrero, Felipe
A1 Bengtsson, Marie
A1 Jörger, Volker
A1 Witzgall, Peter
YR 2017
UL http://biorxiv.org/content/early/2017/10/20/206375.abstract
AB (Z)-4-undecenal (Z4-11Al) is the volatile pheromone produced by females of the vinegar fly Drosophila melanogaster. Female flies emit Z4-11Al at few nanograms per hour, for species-specific communication and mate-finding. Tests with synthetic Z4-11Al show that it has a characteristic off-flavour, which we perceive even at the small amounts produced by one female fly. Since only females produce Z4-11Al, and not males, we can reliably distinguish between single D. melanogaster males and females, according to their scent. A wine-tasting panel finds that we sense as little as 1 ng synthetic Z4-11Al in a glass of wine, and 10 ng Z4-11Al is perceived as a loud off-flavour. This corroborates the observation that a glass of wine is spoilt by a single D. melanogaster fly falling into it, which we here show is caused by Z4-11Al. The biological role of Z4-11Al or structurally related aldehydes in humans and the basis for this semiochemical convergence remains yet unclear.