Cuticular hydrocarbon analysis of an awake behaving fly using direct analysis in real-time time-of-flight mass spectrometry.

ABSTRACT: In mammals and insects, pheromones strongly influence social behaviors such as aggression and mate recognition. In Drosophila melanogaster, pheromones in the form of cuticular hydrocarbons play prominent roles in courtship. GC/MS is the primary analytical tool currently used to study Drosophila cuticular hydrocarbons. Although GC/MS is highly reproducible and sensitive, it requires that the fly be placed in a lethal solution of organic solvent, thereby impeding further behavioral studies. We present a technique for the analysis of hydrocarbons and other surface molecules from live animals by using direct analysis in real-time (DART) MS. Cuticular hydrocarbons were sampled from the surface of a restrained, awake behaving fly by using several brief, carefully controlled depressions of the ab

SUBMITTER: Yew JY 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC2438217 | biostudies-literature | 2008 May

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature