生殖行为因物种而异,但是控制交配和父母照料系统变化的机制仍不清楚。在许多动物物种中,信息素指导交配和父母的照顾。然而,目前尚不清楚脊椎动物信息素信号的进化如何导致新的生殖行为策略。在鱼类中,前列腺素F2α(PGF2α)驱动可育雌性的交配和生殖信息素信号传导,但是这种信息素活动似乎仅限于特定的谱系,对于大多数鱼类来说,雌性生育信息素是如何被感知的,现在仍然是未知的。这里,我们在丽鱼科鱼模型中利用单细胞转录组学和CRISPR基因编辑来鉴定和测试涉及嗅觉感知生殖线索的关键基因的作用。我们发现信息素受体,Or113a,检测肥沃的丽鱼科鱼雌性,从而促进雄性的吸引力和交配行为,感测除PGF2α以外的配体。此外,虽然丽鱼科鱼表现出广泛的父母照顾,对于大多数物种来说,护理完全由女性提供。我们发现,如果由于cnga2b突变而破坏了纤毛感觉神经元的信号传导,或者如果or113a失活,则雄性会开始漱口父母护理。一起,这些结果表明,信息素信号传导的不同机制驱动整个类群的生殖行为。此外,这些发现表明,单个信息素受体在行为调节中获得了新的作用,驱动避免单倍色胺丽鱼科鱼的父性护理。最后,性二态,进化衍生的父母行为是由存在于两性中的中央回路控制的,而嗅觉信号以特定性别的方式控制这种行为。
Reproductive behaviors differ across species, but the mechanisms that control variation in mating and parental care systems remain unclear. In many animal species, pheromones guide mating and parental care. However, it is not well understood how vertebrate pheromone signaling evolution can lead to new reproductive behavior strategies. In fishes, prostaglandin F2α (PGF2α) drives mating and reproductive pheromone signaling in fertile females, but this pheromonal activity appears restricted to specific lineages, and it remains unknown how a female fertility pheromone is sensed for most fish species. Here, we utilize single-cell transcriptomics and CRISPR gene editing in a cichlid fish model to identify and test the roles of key genes involved in olfactory sensing of reproductive cues. We find that a pheromone receptor, Or113a, detects fertile cichlid females and thereby promotes male attraction and mating behavior, sensing a ligand other than PGF2α. Furthermore, while cichlid fishes exhibit extensive parental care, for most species, care is provided solely by females. We find that males initiate mouthbrooding parental care if they have disrupted signaling in ciliated sensory neurons due to cnga2b mutation or if or113a is inactivated. Together, these results show that distinct mechanisms of pheromonal signaling drive reproductive behaviors across taxa. Additionally, these findings indicate that a single pheromone receptor has gained a novel role in behavior regulation, driving avoidance of paternal care among haplochromine cichlid fishes. Lastly, a sexually dimorphic, evolutionarily derived parental behavior is controlled by central circuits present in both sexes, while olfactory signals gate this behavior in a sex-specific manner.