Conference presentation
Revealing the love dart pheromone
USC Research Conference, 2014 (Sunshine Coast, Australia, 14-Jul-2014–18-Jul-2014)
University of the Sunshine Coast
2014
Abstract
Helicid snails undergo a unique sexual ritual that involves the shooting of calcareous "love darts" to their reciprocal partners. These shot darts is a key mechanism needed to increase paternity success as the dart itself acts as a needle, passing on a cocktail of semiochemicals embedded in a mucus matrix. Once in the bloodstream, it this cocktail induces a series of contractile responses, acting directly on specific female reproductive organs, particularly the copulatory canal and bursa tract. These contractions are important in closing off the entrance to the bursa tract, and open the way to the region where the completed spermatophore is deposited leading to a higher rate of fertilization. This study investigated the unknown active substance present in dart mucus cocktail of the garden snail Cantareus aspersa. Mucous gland extracts isolated from 14 individual snails were purified by RP-HPLC and fractions tested for contractile activity on the copulatory canal in vitro. An active contractile inducing fraction was identified and further analysed by MALDI-TOF/TOF, revealing an active peptide (hereby named LoDA). Other proteins and peptides within the mucous gland included HSP70, pedal peptide, insulin-related peptide, dart gland peptide and FFamide. A synthetic LoDA was active in in vitro assay at 10-3-10-12 pM. The full LoDA gene was then identified by transcriptome analysis of the mucus gland; consisting of a mature prepropeptide harboring a signal peptide that is subsequently cleaved to release the active peptide LoDA. A single precursor for LoDA was also identified in the mucous glands of the Mediterranean snail Theba pisana and identified through BLASTp analysis in other species of hermaphrodite gastropods. This is the first identification of a pheromone in terrestrial molluscs which has important consequences to understanding the evolution of reproductive competition. It may also lead to the development of novel contraceptives.
Details
- Title
- Revealing the love dart pheromone
- Authors
- Michael J Stewart (Author) - University of the Sunshine Coast - Faculty of Science, Health, Education and Engineering
- Conference details
- USC Research Conference, 2014 (Sunshine Coast, Australia, 14-Jul-2014–18-Jul-2014)
- Publisher
- University of the Sunshine Coast
- Date published
- 2014
- Copyright note
- Copyright © 2014 The Author.
- Organisation Unit
- University of the Sunshine Coast, Queensland
- Language
- English
- Record Identifier
- 99449004802621
- Output Type
- Conference presentation
- Research Statement
- false
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