众所周知，物种内及物种间的社会互动依赖于化学沟通，但其中所涉及的编码却隐藏在信息素的复杂混合物中。现在，Billeter等人通过基因方法去除了黑腹果蝇表皮中产生烃类信息素的细胞（即绛色细胞），从而形成用以研究化学沟通的一种“空白状态”。令人吃惊的是，没有绛色细胞的果蝇不管是公是母对于雄性果蝇来说都极有性吸引力，甚至对来自一个不同种的雄性也有吸引力。用不同的合成化学药剂喷洒这些果蝇，可以恢复正常的社会和物种界线。（生物谷Bioon.com）
名词解读：
绛色细胞（oenocyte）
绛色细胞是昆虫体内一种由皮细胞转化而来的细胞，一部分在皮细胞中，一部分游离在体腔中，多在气门周围，与中间代谢有关。它的作用很多，如分泌激素，参入脱皮，卵巢的发育等等。
生物谷推荐原始出处：
Nature 461, 987-991 (15 October 2009) | doi:10.1038/nature08495
Specialized cells tag sexual and species identity in Drosophila melanogaster
Jean-Christophe Billeter1, Jade Atallah1, Joshua J. Krupp1, Jocelyn G. Millar2 & Joel D. Levine1
1 Department of Biology, University of Toronto at Mississauga, 3359 Mississauga Road, Mississauga, ontario L5L 1C6, Canada
2 Department of Entomology, University of California, 3401 Watkins Drive, Riverside, California 92521, USA
3 Correspondence to: Joel D. Levine1 Correspondence and requests for materials should be addressed to J.D.L.
Social interactions depend on individuals recognizing each other, and in this context many organisms use chemical signals to indicate species and sex1. Cuticular hydrocarbon signals are used by insects, including Drosophila melanogaster, to distinguish conspecific individuals from others1, 2, 3. These chemicals also contribute to intraspecific courtship and mating interactions1, 2, 3. However, the possibility that sex and species identification are linked by common chemical signalling mechanisms has not been formally tested. Here we provide direct evidence that a single compound is used to communicate female identity among D. melanogaster, and to define a reproductive isolation barrier between D. melanogaster and sibling species. A transgenic manipulation eliminated cuticular hydrocarbons by ablating the oenocytes, specialized cells required for the expression of these chemical signals. The resulting oenocyte-less (oe-) females elicited the normal repertoire of courtship behaviours from males, but were actually preferred over wild-type females by courting males. In addition, wild-type males attempted to copulate with oe- males. Thus, flies lacking hydrocarbons are a sexual hyperstimulus. Treatment of virgin females with the aversive male pheromone cis-vaccenyl acetate (cVA) significantly delayed mating of oe- females compared to wild-type females. This difference was eliminated when oe- females were treated with a blend of cVA and the female aphrodisiac (7Z,11Z)-heptacosadiene (7,11-HD), showing that female aphrodisiac compounds can attenuate the effects of male aversive pheromones. 7,11-HD also was shown to have a crucial role in heterospecific encounters. Specifically, the species barrier was lost because males of other Drosophila species courted oe- D. melanogaster females, and D. simulans males consistently mated with them. Treatment of oe- females with 7,11-HD restored the species barrier, showing that a single compound can confer species identity. These results identify a common mechanism for sexual and species recognition regulated by cuticular hydrocarbons.
