Functional consequences of sequence variation in the pheromone biosynthetic gene pgFAR for Ostrinia moths.

ABSTRACT: Pheromones are central to the mating systems of a wide range of organisms, and reproductive isolation between closely related species is often achieved by subtle differences in pheromone composition. In insects and moths in particular, the use of structurally similar components in different blend ratios is usually sufficient to impede gene flow between taxa. To date, the genetic changes associated with variation and divergence in pheromone signals remain largely unknown. Using the emerging model system Ostrinia, we show the functional consequences of mutations in the protein-coding region of the pheromone biosynthetic fatty-acyl reductase gene pgFAR. Heterologous expression confirmed that pgFAR orthologs encode enzymes exhibiting different substrate specificities that are the direct conseq

SUBMITTER: Lassance JM 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC3593903 | biostudies-literature | 2013 Mar

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature