Animal cells and systems

The Korean Society for Integrative Biology (한국통합생물학회)
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The Olfactory Organ is Activated by a Repelling Pheromone in the Red-spotted Newt Notophthalmus viridescens

  • Park, Daesik (Department of Biological Science, Northern Arizona University) ;
  • Propper, Catherine R. (Department of Biological Science, Northern Arizona University)
  • Published : 2002.09.01
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Abstract

The pheromonal repelling response occurs when a combination of female and male pheromones is found to be less attractive to courting males than are female pheromones alone. This repelling response may act to conserve a courting males’reproductive fitness by minimizing ma1e-male competition within a courting group. Recently, a Pheromonal repelling response was first reported for vertebrates in the red-spotted newt, Notophthalmus viride-scens. A male cloacal pheromone, a ∼33 kDa protein, was identified as a repelling pheromone. In this study, to determine whether both the main olfactory epithelium (MOE) and/or the vomeronasal organ (VNO) are activated by the repelling pheromone, we recorded electrical field potentials from both olfactory epithelia while applying the repelling pheromone. The repelling pheromone induced electrical responses from both olfactory organs, and the magnitude of the response was greater in the VNO than in the MOE. Our results suggest that both the VNO and MOE may be involved in the pheromonal repelling response.

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References

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