linkedin post 2020-04-12 04:58:01

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METHODS IMPROVED. “The first identification of a pheromone was not published until 1959: it had taken Adolf Butenandt and his team 20 years and required material from half a million female silk moths. Today, a single female moth’s secretion might be sufficient, analyzed by gas-chromatography–mass-spectrometry (GC-MS) combined with electrophysiological recordings from a male moth’s antenna to detect the active components of the pheromone blend.” https://lnkd.in/drx5_4e View in LinkedIn
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linkedin post 2020-04-12 04:55:25

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CHEMICAL SIGNAL CHAIN. “Pheromones have provided fascinating examples of signal evolution. In some model organisms, such as moths, Drosophila, Caenorhabditis elegans, and Mus musculus, a complete signaling system can be genetically dissected, from the enzymes producing pheromones, perception by chemosensory receptors, through to the neural circuits processing the signals.” https://lnkd.in/drx5_4e View in LinkedIn
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linkedin post 2020-04-12 05:25:13

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SO ENDS this first of two weekends on the subject of pheromones. Universal, complex, and very diverse, these molecules operate in addition to other modes of communication, layered on top as a primary, perhaps more primitive, sense. It is stunning that sexual attraction is so determined by these molecules, which, in turn, reflect the biological fitness of the partner. And probably not far disconnected from the molecules of quorum sensing used by bacteria. View in LinkedIn
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linkedin post 2020-04-12 04:51:30

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ACROSS ALL TAXA. “We now know that pheromones are used by species all across the animal kingdom, in every habitat, and in a wide range of biological contexts, from trail, alarm, and queen pheromones in social insects to the mammary pheromone produced by mother rabbits.” https://lnkd.in/drx5_4e View in LinkedIn
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linkedin post 2020-04-12 05:18:44

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INDIVIDUAL BIOMARKERS. “It is worth separating the concepts of pheromones and signature mixtures (it was a mistake in my 2003 book to combine them). It is precisely because individuals have different odour profiles that these can be learnt and used to distinguish different animals.” https://lnkd.in/drx5_4e View in LinkedIn
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linkedin post 2020-04-12 05:16:38

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LEARNED ODORANTS. “Pheromones are one kind of semiochemical, chemicals giving information. Another kind of semiochemical, signature mixtures, are the basis of individual recognition based on learning the different chemical profiles of individuals, allowing familiar and unfamiliar animals to be distinguished.” https://lnkd.in/drx5_4e View in LinkedIn
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