雄イモリ腹腺ステロイドの雌誘引効果

抄録

A peptide pheromone, sodefrin, has been considered to be a major female attractant released from the abdominal gland of male newts. By means of gas chromatography-mass spectrometry, we demonstrated that a considerable amount of steroidal substances such as pregnenolone, progesterone, androstenedione and estradiol were contained in the abdominal gland of the male newt. Moreover, we confirmed that synthesis and release of steroidal substances such as pregnenolone and androstenedione occur in the abdominal gland. Moreover, we found both of these steroids have a considerable female-attracting activity. Combination of both steroids and sodefrin exerted more potent female attracting activity than the mixture of the two steroids or sodefrin alone. The results strongly suggest that both the peptide pheromone and the steroids act together to attract sexually developed females during courtship. [J Physiol Sci. 2008;58 Suppl:S141]