Jiang, N.J., Chang, H., Weißflog, J., Eberl, F., Veit, D., Weniger, K., Hansson, B.S., Knaden, M. (2023). Ozone exposure disrupts insect sexual communication.  Nat. Commun. 14(1): 1186.

FBrf0256045

Research paper

Insect sexual communication often relies upon sex pheromones. Most insect pheromones, however, contain carbon-carbon double bonds and potentially degrade by oxidation. Here, we show that frequently reported increased levels of Anthropocenic ozone can oxidize all described male-specific pheromones of Drosophila melanogaster, resulting in reduced amounts of pheromones such as cis-Vaccenyl Acetate and (Z)-7-Tricosene. At the same time female acceptance of ozone-exposed males is significantly delayed. Interestingly, groups of ozone-exposed males also exhibit significantly increased levels of male-male courtship behaviour. When repeating similar experiments with nine other drosophilid species, we observe pheromone degradation and/or disrupted sex recognition in eight of them. Our data suggest that Anthropocenic levels of ozone can extensively oxidize double bonds in a variety of insect pheromones, thereby leading to deviations in sexual recognition.

PMC10014992 (PMC) (EuropePMC)