Love bites: male frogs (Plectrohyla, Hylidae) use teeth scratching to deliver sodefrin precursor-like factors to females during amplexus

Abstract Background Efficient transfer of chemical signals is important for successful mating in many animal species. Multiple evolutionary lineages of animals evolved direct sex pheromone transmission during traumatic mating—the wounding of the partner with specialized devices—which helps to avoid...

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Autores principales:	Lisa M. Schulte, An Martel, Raciel Cruz-Elizalde, Aurelio Ramírez-Bautista, Franky Bossuyt
Formato:	article
Lenguaje:	EN
Publicado:	BMC 2021
Materias:	Chemical communication Breeding glands Amphibia Amplexus Allohormone pheromones Traumatic mating Zoology QL1-991
Acceso en línea:	https://doaj.org/article/55f01b7bb3c147a795eb1e82b6187af0
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spelling	oai:doaj.org-article:55f01b7bb3c147a795eb1e82b6187af02021-11-28T12:25:35ZLove bites: male frogs (Plectrohyla, Hylidae) use teeth scratching to deliver sodefrin precursor-like factors to females during amplexus10.1186/s12983-021-00445-61742-9994https://doaj.org/article/55f01b7bb3c147a795eb1e82b6187af02021-11-01T00:00:00Zhttps://doi.org/10.1186/s12983-021-00445-6https://doaj.org/toc/1742-9994Abstract Background Efficient transfer of chemical signals is important for successful mating in many animal species. Multiple evolutionary lineages of animals evolved direct sex pheromone transmission during traumatic mating—the wounding of the partner with specialized devices—which helps to avoid signal loss to the environment. Although such direct transmission modes of so-called allohormone pheromones are well-documented in invertebrates, they are considered rare in vertebrates. Males of several species of the frog genus Plectrohyla (Hylidae, Anura) have elongated teeth and develop swollen lips during the breeding season. Here we investigated the possibility that these structures are used to scratch the females’ skin and apply allohormone pheromones during traumatic mating in several Plectrohyla species. Results Our behavioural observations revealed that males press their upper jaw onto the females’ dorsum during amplexus, leaving small skin scratches with their teeth. Histological examinations of the males’ lips identified specialized mucus glands, resembling known amphibian pheromone glands. Whole-transcriptome sequencing of these breeding glands showed high expression of sodefrin precursor-like factor (SPF) proteins, which are known to have a pheromone function in multiple amphibian species. Conclusions Our study suggests SPF delivery via traumatic mating in several anuran species: the males have specialized breeding glands in the lips for production and secretion and use their elongated teeth as wounding devices for application. We hypothesize that these SPF proteins end up in the females’ circulatory system, where understanding their exact function will require further molecular, physiological and behavioural testing.Lisa M. SchulteAn MartelRaciel Cruz-ElizaldeAurelio Ramírez-BautistaFranky BossuytBMCarticleChemical communicationBreeding glandsAmphibiaAmplexusAllohormone pheromonesTraumatic matingZoologyQL1-991ENFrontiers in Zoology, Vol 18, Iss 1, Pp 1-14 (2021)
institution	DOAJ
collection	DOAJ
language	EN
topic	Chemical communication Breeding glands Amphibia Amplexus Allohormone pheromones Traumatic mating Zoology QL1-991
spellingShingle	Chemical communication Breeding glands Amphibia Amplexus Allohormone pheromones Traumatic mating Zoology QL1-991 Lisa M. Schulte An Martel Raciel Cruz-Elizalde Aurelio Ramírez-Bautista Franky Bossuyt Love bites: male frogs (Plectrohyla, Hylidae) use teeth scratching to deliver sodefrin precursor-like factors to females during amplexus
description	Abstract Background Efficient transfer of chemical signals is important for successful mating in many animal species. Multiple evolutionary lineages of animals evolved direct sex pheromone transmission during traumatic mating—the wounding of the partner with specialized devices—which helps to avoid signal loss to the environment. Although such direct transmission modes of so-called allohormone pheromones are well-documented in invertebrates, they are considered rare in vertebrates. Males of several species of the frog genus Plectrohyla (Hylidae, Anura) have elongated teeth and develop swollen lips during the breeding season. Here we investigated the possibility that these structures are used to scratch the females’ skin and apply allohormone pheromones during traumatic mating in several Plectrohyla species. Results Our behavioural observations revealed that males press their upper jaw onto the females’ dorsum during amplexus, leaving small skin scratches with their teeth. Histological examinations of the males’ lips identified specialized mucus glands, resembling known amphibian pheromone glands. Whole-transcriptome sequencing of these breeding glands showed high expression of sodefrin precursor-like factor (SPF) proteins, which are known to have a pheromone function in multiple amphibian species. Conclusions Our study suggests SPF delivery via traumatic mating in several anuran species: the males have specialized breeding glands in the lips for production and secretion and use their elongated teeth as wounding devices for application. We hypothesize that these SPF proteins end up in the females’ circulatory system, where understanding their exact function will require further molecular, physiological and behavioural testing.
format	article
author	Lisa M. Schulte An Martel Raciel Cruz-Elizalde Aurelio Ramírez-Bautista Franky Bossuyt
author_facet	Lisa M. Schulte An Martel Raciel Cruz-Elizalde Aurelio Ramírez-Bautista Franky Bossuyt
author_sort	Lisa M. Schulte
title	Love bites: male frogs (Plectrohyla, Hylidae) use teeth scratching to deliver sodefrin precursor-like factors to females during amplexus
title_short	Love bites: male frogs (Plectrohyla, Hylidae) use teeth scratching to deliver sodefrin precursor-like factors to females during amplexus
title_full	Love bites: male frogs (Plectrohyla, Hylidae) use teeth scratching to deliver sodefrin precursor-like factors to females during amplexus
title_fullStr	Love bites: male frogs (Plectrohyla, Hylidae) use teeth scratching to deliver sodefrin precursor-like factors to females during amplexus
title_full_unstemmed	Love bites: male frogs (Plectrohyla, Hylidae) use teeth scratching to deliver sodefrin precursor-like factors to females during amplexus
title_sort	love bites: male frogs (plectrohyla, hylidae) use teeth scratching to deliver sodefrin precursor-like factors to females during amplexus
publisher	BMC
publishDate	2021
url	https://doaj.org/article/55f01b7bb3c147a795eb1e82b6187af0
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Love bites: male frogs (Plectrohyla, Hylidae) use teeth scratching to deliver sodefrin precursor-like factors to females during amplexus

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