Our research involves identifying pheromones, characterizing the unique enzymes in the pheromones biosynthetic pathway, and identifying the genetic changes that make these enzymes unique.
Pheromones are chemicals used for communication in animals, including humans.
We have identified one or more of these compounds in the pheromone blend of a number of species of Drosophila where they are specie-specific aggregation pheromones. In addition to these compounds being critical to the insect's location of food and mating partners, a parasitoid of Drosophila larvae strongly respond to the aggregation pheromones as well as the host food to more reliably detect the presence of the host. Our goal is to determine what is unique about the chain-length specific elongase in each specie that regulates the synthesis of their specific methylketone. All of the methylketones studied to date are produced by the microsomalfraction of the ejaculatory bulb of mature male flies. Since the insects are small and their organs are small, the tissues are obtained by microsurgery, and the assays are microassays which provide opportunities for developing special skills.