Swarm formation in the desert locust Schistocerca gregaria: isolation and NMR analysis of the primary maternal gregarizing agent

The Journal of Experimental Biology
Gabriel A MillerStephen J Simpson

Abstract

Depending on their rearing density, female desert locusts Schistocerca gregaria epigenetically endow their offspring with differing phenotypes. To identify the chemical basis for such maternal transmission, we compared solitarious and gregarious locust egg pod foam using high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC). We revealed causal relationships between foam chemistry and hatchling phenotype (phase state) by iteratively applying HPLC fractions from gregarious locust egg foam extracts to solitarious eggs and assessing resulting hatchlings with a behavioural bioassay involving logistic regression. Selection and application of increasingly specific HPLC fractions allowed us to isolate compounds with gregarizing properties. Hatchling gregarization was triggered only by certain fractions and was dose dependent. In a final series of experiments, we characterized the most specific gregarizing fraction by nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy. Here we present tentative structural features of the primary locust maternal gregarizing agent, which appears to be an alkylated l-dopa analogue. In addition, we propose a mechanism for phase-dependent regulation of this compound's activity.

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Citations

Jun 12, 2013·Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America·Romain LibbrechtLaurent Keller
Mar 28, 2009·Biology Letters·Lindsey J GrayStephen J Simpson
Jan 20, 2010·Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society of London. Series B, Biological Sciences·Giuseppe Fusco, Alessandro Minelli
May 9, 2012·Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society of London. Series B, Biological Sciences·David RaubenheimerAlice H Tait
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Dec 17, 2008·General and Comparative Endocrinology·Heleen VerlindenJozef Vanden Broeck
Oct 21, 2015·Organic & Biomolecular Chemistry·Enrico FaggiIgnacio Alfonso
Aug 14, 2012·Ecology Letters·Vishwesha GuttalIain D Couzin
Feb 2, 2008·BMC Evolutionary Biology·Marie-Pierre ChapuisYannis Michalakis
Oct 1, 2011·Current Biology : CB·Stephen J SimpsonNathan Lo
Jan 15, 2015·Organic & Biomolecular Chemistry·J L Muñoz-GómezJ Vidal-Gancedo
Jan 21, 2015·PloS One·Sinead EnglishTobias Uller
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Mar 21, 2021·Developmental Biology·Nelson R Cabej
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