Pleiotropic actions of the male pheromone cis-vaccenyl acetate in Drosophila melanogaster

Abstract

The male-specific lipid, cis-vaccenyl acetate (cVA) has multiple functions in intra-species communication in Drosophila melanogaster. The presence of cVA in a male suppresses courtship motivation of other males and averts male-male courtship. Meanwhile, aggression behaviors between males are promoted by a high amount of cVA caused by increased densities of male flies. cVA also works as a modifier of courtship memory, which is suppressed courtship motivation driven by previous unsuccessful courtship experience. Conversely, cVA in the courting male stimulates female reproductive motivation and increases the probability of copulation success. It also works as an aggregation pheromone, attracting both males and females at the gathering spot. Thus, cVA is a unique example of a single molecule leading to different behaviors in response to the social context. However, despite recent advances in understanding the molecular and neural machinery for cVA sensing, it is still largely unknown how cVA triggers a specific behavior as the situation demands. In this review article, I discuss two potential machineries that might determine cVA actions for behavior selection at the sensory level.

Fig. 1

Multiple functions of cis-vaccenyl acetate. A male-specific lipid (Z)-11-octadecen-1-yl acetate, so-called cis-vaccenyl acetate (cVA) has multiple functions in social communication. From distance, cVA works as an aggregation pheromone, attracting other flies. In close proximity, for a male, presence of cVA on the other male promotes male–male aggression behavior, while absence of cVA indicates that the nearby fly is a female and stimulates courtship. Meanwhile, for a female, presence of cVA on the courting male enhances copulation receptivity. Presence of little amount of cVA on the mated female, transferred from the male during copulation, works as an anti-aphrodisiac pheromone, decreasing sexual motivation of a male