3月8日，中國科學院動物研究所動物行為與化學通訊組的研究在《化學感覺》（Chemcial Senses）雜志在線發(fā)表。論文首次用虎皮鸚鵡證明：(1)鳥類的身體氣味可以用于嗅覺的性識別或性吸引,，去年國外的鳥類學家發(fā)表文章還認為鳥類無嗅覺的性識別,；(2)多數鳥類具有的最重要的外泌腺——尾脂腺分泌了這些活性小分子成分——性信息素，并通過鳥類理羽（preening）行為,，將其涂抹到羽被,，進行傳遞，引起身體氣味的活性,。之前,，在除了鳥以外的其它動物類群，都證明存在嗅覺的性通訊和性信息素,。在虎皮鸚鵡中,，尾脂腺分泌的十八醇、十九醇和二十醇的比率在雄鳥中顯著高于雌鳥,，并對雌鳥有明顯的吸引作用,，組成了雄性信息素。
過去普遍認為鳥類視覺和聽覺發(fā)達,，而嗅覺(olfaction)極度退化,，相應的調節(jié)鳥類社會行為的通訊主要依靠視覺和聽覺信號，而不是化學信號,。該項研究選取全世界最為普遍的籠養(yǎng)鳥和模式實驗鳥——虎皮鸚鵡作為實驗對象,，利用傳統(tǒng)的雙向選擇和GC-MS分析方法，證明鳥類確實存在“性信息素的通訊”,。
另一方面,，以往認為尾脂腺在鳥類中主要起到羽毛防水和折射不同波長光的作用，化學研究上也主要集中在對尾脂腺分泌的蠟脂成分的分析上,。最近,，盡管國際上開始關注鳥的化學通訊，但是有關文章都沒能將化學分析和生物測定成功結合而達到信息素鑒定的水平,。正如論文評閱人所說：盡管很久以來就推測有些鳥的尾脂腺可能產生性信息素,，但是該論文第一次提供了這類信息素組成的實驗證據，也為以后的同類研究提供了參考方法,。(生物谷Bioon.com)
生物谷推薦原文出處：
Chemical Senses, doi:10.1093/chemse/bjq025
Uropygial Gland-Secreted Alkanols Contribute to Olfactory Sex Signals in Budgerigars
Jian-Xu Zhang, Wei Wei, Jin-Hua Zhang and Wei-He Yang
The State Key Laboratory of Integrated Management and Research of Insect and Rodent Pests and the Center for Integrative Studies of Biology, the Institute of Zoology, the Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beichenxi Road 1-5, Beijing 100101, China
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.
