"Pheromones: Evolutionary contexts, contrasts and convergence"

Dr. Tristam D Wyatt
Department of Zoology
University of Oxford, UK

Wednesday, 8th September 2004: 4.00pm - 5.00pm

DBS Conference Room
Blk S3, Level 5, Department of Biological Sciences
The National University of Singapore
Science Drive 4

Visitors may park at Carpark 10
See map

Host: Li Daiqin

About the Talk
The organisation of the olfactory system and brain makes it almost inevitable that chemical communicationwill evolve as animals are selected to respond to their chemical environment. It is thus no surprise that pheromones play key roles in the lives of organisms throughout the animal kingdom.

Signals are derived from movements, body parts or molecules already in use and are subsequently changedin the course of evolution to enhance their signal function. Thus pheromones evolve from compounds originally having other uses or significance, for example from hormones, host plant odours, chemicals released oninjury, or waste products. There is selection for functional signal features such as longevity and specificity. There is also evolution in the sensory systems and response of the receiver. The original functions of thechemicals may or may not be eventually lost.

Like insects, mammals and other vertebrates can use small molecules, singly or in simple mixtures, aspheromones for sexual signalling. It is harder to identify mammalian pheromones than those of insects butthis does not necessarily mean that their pheromones are more complicated.

One of the most important uses of odour signals in both mammals and social insects is as signature odours,chemical cues used for social recognition. Signature odours do not fit the Karlson and Lüscher’s 1959pheromone criterion of a defined chemical mixture eliciting particular behaviour or other response. The cues used for social recognition of kin, clans, colony members and the like are complex, greatly varied mixturesof many compounds. The differences between the odour mixtures are the message targets for knockouts. Our interest also lies in the Natural language Processing of Pubmed entries to summarize markers involved in human diseases.

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