Geology topics

Huiyong Wang

Publications and source records attributed to Huiyong Wang.

7 recordsLinked to original sources

USGS2017

Phylogenetic distribution of a male pheromone that may exploit a nonsexual preference in lampreys

Pheromones are among the most important sexual signals used by organisms throughout the animal kingdom. However, few are identified in vertebrates, leaving the evolutionary mechanisms underlying vertebrate pheromones poorly understood. Pre-existing biases in receivers’ perceptual systems shape visual and auditory signaling systems, but studies on how receiver biases influence the evolution of pheromone communication remain sparse. The lamprey Petromyzon marinus uses a relatively well-understood suite of pheromones and offers a unique opportunity to study the evolution of vertebrate pheromone communication. Previous studies indicate that male signaling with the mating pheromone 3-keto petromyzonol sulfate (3kPZS) may exploit a nonsexual attraction to juvenile-released 3kPZS that guides migration into productive rearing habitat. Here, we infer the distribution of male signaling with 3kPZS using a phylogenetic comparison comprising six of ten genera and two of three families. Our results indicate that only P. marinus and Ichthyomyzon castaneus release 3kPZS at high rates. Olfactory and behavioral assays with P. marinus, I. castaneus and a subset of three other species that do not use 3kPZS as a sexual signal indicate that male signaling might drive the evolution of female adaptations to detect 3kPZS with specific olfactory mechanisms and respond to 3kPZS with targeted attraction relevant during mate search. We postulate that 3kPZS communication evolved independently in I. castaneus and P. marinus , but cannot eliminate the alternative that other species lost 3kPZS communication. Regardless, our results represent a rare macroevolutionary investigation of a vertebrate pheromone and insight into the evolutionary mechanisms underlying pheromone communication.

Journal of Evolutionary Biology↗

USGS2015

A sea lamprey ( Petromyzon marinus ) sex pheromone mixture increases trap catch relative to a single synthesized component in specific environments

Spermiating male sea lamprey ( Petromyzon marinus ) release a sex pheromone, of which a component, 7α, 12α, 24-trihydoxy-3-one-5α-cholan-24-sulfate (3kPZS), has been identified and shown to induce long distance preference responses in ovulated females. However, other pheromone components exist, and when 3kPZS alone was used to control invasive sea lamprey populations in the Laurentian Great Lakes, trap catch increase was significant, but gains were generally marginal. We hypothesized that free-ranging sea lamprey populations discriminate between a partial and complete pheromone while migrating to spawning grounds and searching for mates at spawning grounds. As a means to test our hypothesis, and to test two possible uses of sex pheromones for sea lamprey control, we asked whether the full sex pheromone mixture released by males (spermiating male washings; SMW) is more effective than 3kPZS in capturing animals in traditional traps (1) en route to spawning grounds and (2) at spawning grounds. At locations where traps target sea lampreys en route to spawning grounds, SMW-baited traps captured significantly more sea lampreys than paired 3kPZS-baited traps (~10 % increase). At spawning grounds, no difference in trap catch was observed between 3kPZS and SMW-baited traps. The lack of an observed difference at spawning grounds may be attributed to increased pheromone competition and possible involvement of other sensory modalities to locate mates. Because fishes often rely on multiple and sometimes redundant sensory modalities for critical life history events, the addition of sex pheromones to traditionally used traps is not likely to work in all circumstances. In the case of the sea lamprey, sex pheromone application may increase catch when applied to specifically designed traps deployed in streams with low adult density and limited spawning habitat.

Journal of Chemical Ecology↗

USGS2013

Evidence for a receiver bias underlying female preference for a male mating pheromone in sea lamprey

Receiver bias models suggest that a male sexual signal became exaggerated to match a pre-existing sensory, perceptual or cognitive disposition of the female. Accordingly, these models predict that females of related taxa possessing the ancestral state of signalling evolved preference for the male trait in a non-sexual context. We postulated that female preference for the male-released bile alcohol mating pheromone, 3 keto petromyzonol sulfate (3kPZS), of the sea lamprey (Petromyzon marinus) evolved as a result of a receiver bias. In particular, we propose that migratory silver lamprey (Ichthyomyzon unicuspis), a basal member of the Petromyzontidae, evolved a preference for 3kPZS released by stream-resident larvae as a means of identifying productive habitat for offspring. Larval silver lamprey released 3kPZS at rates sufficient to be detected by migratory lampreys. Females responded to 3kPZS by exhibiting upstream movement behaviours relevant in a migratory context, but did not exhibit proximate behaviours important to mate search and spawning. Male silver lamprey did not release 3kPZS at rates sufficient to be detected by females in natural high-volume stream environments. We infer that female silver lamprey cue onto 3kPZS excreted by stream-resident larvae as a mechanism to locate habitat conducive to offspring survival and that males do not signal with 3kPZS. We suggest that this female preference for a male signal in a non-sexual context represents a bias leading to the sexual signalling observed in sea lamprey.

Michigan↗

USGS2013

Monitoring sea lamprey pheromones and their degradation using rapid stream-side extraction coupled with UPLC-MS/MS

Pheromones guide adult sea lamprey (Petromyzon marinus) to suitable spawning streams and mates, and therefore, when quantified, can be used to assess population size and guide management. Here, we present an efficient sample preparation method where 100 mL of river water was spiked with deuterated pheromone as an internal standard and underwent rapid field-based SPE and elution in the field. The combination of field extraction with laboratory UPLC-MS/MS reduced the sample consumption from 1 to 0.1 L, decreased the sample process time from more than 1 h to 10 min, and increased the precision and accuracy. The sensitivity was improved more than one order of magnitude compared with the previous method. The influences of experimental conditions were assessed to optimize the separation and peak shapes. The analytical method has been validated by studies of stability, selectivity, precision, and linearity and by the determination of the limits of detection and quantification. The method was used to quantify pheromone concentration from five streams tributary to Lake Ontario and to estimate that the environmental half-life of 3kPZS is about 26 h.

Journal of Separation Science↗

USGS2013

Pheromonal bile acid 3-ketopetromyzonol sulfate primes the neuroendocrine system in sea lamprey

Background Vertebrate pheromones are known to prime the endocrine system, especially the hypothalamic-pituitary-gonadal (HPG) axis. However, no known pheromone molecule has been shown to modulate directly the synthesis or release of gonadotropin releasing hormone (GnRH), the main regulator of the HPG axis. We selected sea lamprey (Petromyzon marinus) as a model system to determine whether a single pheromone component alters the output of GnRH. Sea lamprey male sex pheromones contain a main component, 7α, 12α, 24-trihydroxy-5α-cholan-3-one 24-sulfate (3 keto-petromyzonol sulfate or 3kPZS), which has been shown to modulate behaviors of mature females. Through a series of experiments, we tested the hypothesis that 3kPZS modulates both synthesis and release of GnRH, and subsequently, HPG output in immature sea lamprey. Results The results showed that natural male pheromone mixtures induced differential steroid responses but facilitated sexual maturation in both sexes of immature animals (χ2 = 5.042, dF = 1, p < 0.05). Exposure to 3kPZS increased plasma 15α-hydroxyprogesterone (15α-P) concentrations (one-way ANOVA, p < 0.05) and brain gene expressions (genes examined: three lamprey (l) GnRH-I transcripts, lGnRH-III, Jun and Jun N-terminal kinase (JNK); one-way ANOVA, p < 0.05), but did not alter the number of GnRH neurons in the hypothalamus in immature animals. In addition, 3kPZS treatments increased lGnRH peptide concentrations in the forebrain and modulated their levels in plasma. Overall, 3kPZS modulation of HPG axis is more pronounced in immature males than in females. Conclusions We conclude that a single male pheromone component primes the HPG axis in immature sea lamprey in a sexually dimorphic manner.

BMC Neuroscience↗

USGS2013

An anti-steroidogenic inhibitory primer pheromone in male sea lamprey (Petromyzon marinus)

Reproductive functions can be modulated by both stimulatory and inhibitory primer pheromones released by conspecifics. Many stimulatory primer pheromones have been documented, but relatively few inhibitory primer pheromones have been reported in vertebrates. The sea lamprey male sex pheromone system presents an advantageous model to explore the stimulatory and inhibitory primer pheromone functions in vertebrates since several pheromone components have been identified. We hypothesized that a candidate sex pheromone component, 7α, 12α-dihydroxy-5α-cholan-3-one-24-oic acid (3 keto-allocholic acid or 3kACA), exerts priming effects through the hypothalamic-pituitary-gonadal (HPG) axis. To test this hypothesis, we measured the peptide concentrations and gene expressions of lamprey gonadotropin releasing hormones (lGnRH) and the HPG output in immature male sea lamprey exposed to waterborne 3kACA. Exposure to waterborne 3kACA altered neuronal activation markers such as jun and jun N-terminal kinase (JNK), and lGnRH mRNA levels in the brain. Waterborne 3kACA also increased lGnRH-III, but not lGnRH-I or -II, in the forebrain. In the plasma, 3kACA exposure decreased all three lGnRH peptide concentrations after 1 h exposure. After 2 h exposure, 3kACA increased lGnRHI and -III, but decreased lGnRH-II peptide concentrations in the plasma. Plasma lGnRH peptide concentrations showed differential phasic patterns. Group housing condition appeared to increase the averaged plasma lGnRH levels in male sea lamprey compared to isolated males. Interestingly, 15α-hydroxyprogesterone (15α-P) concentrations decreased after prolonged 3kACA exposure (at least 24 h). To our knowledge, this is the only known synthetic vertebrate pheromone component that inhibits steroidogenesis in males.

General and Comparative Endocrinology↗

USGS2013

A synthesized mating pheromone component increases adult sea lamprey ( Petromyzon marinus ) trap capture in management scenarios

Application of chemical cues to manipulate adult sea lamprey (Petromyzon marinus) behavior is among the options considered for new sea lamprey control techniques in the Laurentian Great Lakes. A male mating pheromone component, 7a,12a,24-trihydroxy-3-one-5a-cholan-24-sulfate (3kPZS), lures ovulated female sea lamprey upstream into baited traps in experimental contexts with no odorant competition. A critical knowledge gap is whether this single pheromone component influences adult sea lamprey behavior in management contexts containing free-ranging sea lampreys. A solution of 3kPZS to reach a final in-stream concentration of 10 -12 mol·L -1 was applied to eight Michigan streams at existing sea lamprey traps over 3 years, and catch rates were compared between paired 3kPZS-baited and unbaited traps. 3kPZS-baited traps captured significantly more sexually immature and mature sea lampreys, and overall yearly trapping efficiency within a stream averaged 10% higher during years when 3kPZS was applied. Video analysis of a trap funnel showed that the likelihood of sea lamprey trap entry after trap encounter was higher when the trap was 3kPZS baited. Our approach serves as a model for the development of similar control tools for sea lamprey and other aquatic invaders.

Great Lakes↗