Institute of Zoology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beichenxi Road 1-5, Beijing 100101, China.
Chem Senses. 2010 Jun;35(5):375-82. doi: 10.1093/chemse/bjq025. Epub 2010 Mar 8.
The possible role of uropygial gland-secreted compounds in olfactory discrimination of sex or sex attractants in the budgerigar, Melopsittacus undulatus, was investigated using behavioral 2-choice tests and gas chromatography-mass spectrometry analysis. Our data showed that female budgerigars were capable of distinguishing males from females in a Y maze via body odor, indicating its sexual dimorphism. When we conducted a chemical assay of the uropygial preen gland secretions, we found 4 times more volatile octadecanol, nonadecanol, and eicosanol in ratios in males than in females, making them putative male pheromone candidates. Female birds also showed overt preferences for the odor of male preen gland secretions or the 3-alkanol blend equivalent preened onto the plumage of a male over that of female counterparts. Removal of any one alkanol was associated with a loss of attractiveness to the female. In another test device (a test cage) with visible male bird stimulus, females chose the male with the 3-alkanol blend of males over the other male with female preen gland secretion, whereas did not differentiate their responses between the males with either this blend or male preen gland secretions. The behavioral data robustly suggested that the 3 alkanols synergistically created a female attractant odor or male pheromone in the budgerigar and that bird uropygial glands have broader implications in sexual behavior than previously known. This is the first investigation with bioassay of components of the gland in a bird species.
我们使用行为二选一测试和气相色谱-质谱分析，研究了尾脂腺分泌物中的化合物在虎皮鹦鹉（Melopsittacus undulatus）的性别或性引诱剂的嗅觉识别中的可能作用。我们的数据表明，雌性虎皮鹦鹉可以通过体味区分雄性和雌性，表明其存在性别二态性。当我们对尾脂腺预分泌腺的分泌物进行化学分析时，发现雄性中挥发性十八烷醇、十九烷醇和二十烷醇的比例是雌性的 4 倍，这使它们成为潜在的雄性信息素候选物质。雌性鸟类也表现出对雄性预分泌腺分泌物或雄性羽毛上涂有 3-烷醇混合物的气味的明显偏好，而不是雌性的气味。去除任何一种烷醇都会导致对雌性失去吸引力。在另一个带有可见雄性鸟刺激的测试装置（测试笼）中，雌性选择了涂有 3-烷醇混合物的雄性，而不是涂有雌性尾脂腺分泌物的雄性，而在涂有这种混合物或雄性尾脂腺分泌物的雄性之间，它们的反应没有差异。行为数据有力地表明，这 3 种烷醇在虎皮鹦鹉中协同产生了一种雌性引诱剂气味或雄性信息素，而鸟类尾脂腺在性行为中的作用比以前所知的更为广泛。这是首次在鸟类物种中对腺体成分进行生物测定的研究。
