A pheromone receptor in cichlid fish mediates attraction to females but inhibits male parental care.

ABSTRACT: Reproductive behaviors differ across species, but the mechanisms that control variation in mating and parental care systems remain unclear. In many animal species, pheromones guide mating and parental care. However, it is not well understood how vertebrate pheromone signaling evolution can lead to new reproductive behavior strategies. In fishes, prostaglandin F_2α (PGF_2α) drives mating and reproductive pheromone signaling in fertile females, but this pheromonal activity appears restricted to specific lineages, and it remains unknown how a female fertility pheromone is sensed for most fish species. Here, we utilize single-cell transcriptomics and CRISPR gene editing in a cichlid fish model to identify and test the roles of key genes involved in olfactory sensing of repr

SUBMITTER: Li CY 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC11387146 | biostudies-literature | 2024 Sep

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature