Pheromones :: Biology Essays Research Papers

PheromonesHave you constantly wondered how different species know when to geminate and who to mate with? How can they tell the difference between someone of the same fetch up, frequently less whether an new(prenominal) harmoniumism is of the same species? This can be answered by chemical signals kn own as pheromones. Pheromones are unique and highly proper(postnominal) chemical signals produced by an organism that signals its presence to other members of the same species. distributively organism have different pheromones they release during mating that helps them to id entify each other and start the process of mating. Pheromones come not only in forms of sex attractants, but also as alarm pheromones, aggregation pheromones, and dispersion pheromones(1). How do we know that such a chemical exists in organisms? In 1956, German scientists were able to identify the first ever pheromone in silkworm moths. afterward 20 years of research and over half a one thousand thousand fe sta minate moths later, they were able to extract a pecu liar compound from authoritative glands located on the tip of the abdomen. When even a small substance of this substance was exposed to male moths, they would begin to beat their wings lifelessly in a iflutter dancei. This indicated that they had detected the powerfu l sex attractant from the females that caused this type of behavior. later on extracting extraneous matter and purifying the substance, scientists ended up with the first ever chemically pure pheromone. Since then, various other organisms have been studied and more is understood about the effects of pheromone, but not much is cognise about how pheromones work in more complex vertebrates such as humans. The next logical question to ask is how are these chemical signals recognised? Studies have designaten that pheromone is first recognized by the chemical receptors in the vomeronasal organ (VNO) and olfactive bulbs located in the nose signals are then displace t o the hypothalamus of the brain. In an experiment conducted on virgin male mice where their VNO was removed, the mice were found to generally not mate with receptive females, even if the maleis olfactory nerves were not damaged. This showed that the VNO s are needed in decree start certain chains of reactions already programmed in the brain. Further studies show that when male mice have begun to associate sexual activity with other cues from females, including smells they compose less dependent on the VNO s.