歐洲玉米螟已成為研究性交流的遺傳學及性信號在物種形成中所起作用的一個模型體系，部分是因為它由兩種性信息素組成,，這兩種性信息素利用醋酸鹽信息素成分的不同比例的順式異構(gòu)體和反式異構(gòu)體,，導致強烈生殖隔離——這可能是物種形成的第一步,。
實踐證明，雌性信息素生成及雄性行為反應的基因控制之謎難以揭開,，但現(xiàn)在,，信息素種類差異中所涉及的一個基因已被識別出來。信息素生物合成所必需的一個脂肪酰還原酶基因發(fā)生的變異,，可以解釋雌性信息素生成中的表現(xiàn)型變異,，這種變異導致（信息素）種類特異性信號。
這表明,，單一一種酶的編碼區(qū)域中取代的積累會在信息素的混合物種產(chǎn)生差異,，這些差異之大足以導致生殖隔離。（生物谷Bioon.com）
生物谷推薦原文出處：
Nature doi:10.1038/nature09058
Allelic variation in a fatty-acyl reductase gene causes divergence in moth sex pheromones
Jean-Marc Lassance,Astrid T. Groot,Marjorie A. Liénard,Binu Antony,Christin Borgwardt,Fredrik Andersson,Erik Hedenstr?m,David G. Heckel& Christer L?fstedt
Pheromone-based behaviours are crucial in animals from insects to mammals1, 2, and reproductive isolation is often based on pheromone differences1, 2, 3, 4. However, the genetic mechanisms by which pheromone signals change during the evolution of new species are largely unknown4. In the sexual communication system of moths (Insecta: Lepidoptera), females emit a species-specific pheromone blend that attracts males over long distances1, 2, 4. The European corn borer, Ostrinia nubilalis, consists of two sex pheromone races, Z and E, that use different ratios of the cis and trans isomers of acetate pheromone components5. This subtle difference leads to strong reproductive isolation in the field between the two races6, 7, which could represent a first step in speciation. Female sex pheromone production and male behavioural response are under the control of different major genes8, 9, but the identity of these genes is unknown. Here we show that allelic variation in a fatty-acyl reductase gene essential for pheromone biosynthesis accounts for the phenotypic variation in female pheromone production, leading to race-specific signals. Both the cis and trans isomers of the pheromone precursors are produced by both races, but the precursors are differentially reduced to yield opposite ratios in the final pheromone blend as a result of the substrate specificity of the enzymes encoded by the Z and E alleles. This is the first functional characterization of a gene contributing to intraspecific behavioural reproductive isolation in moths, highlighting the importance of evolutionary diversification in a lepidopteran-specific family of reductases. Accumulation of substitutions in the coding region of a single biosynthetic enzyme can produce pheromone differences resulting in reproductive isolation, with speciation as a potential end result.
