Project
Identifying a synthetic antagonist that synergizes with a natural antagonist to disrupt sea lamprey sex pheromone. (final)
Adult sea lamprey rely on chemical cues to find spawning streams, locate mates, and reproduce. Migratory males and female sea lamprey are guided into tributaries by the larval cue. Once in the stream, males move upstream, construct nests, and release a sex pheromone that includes 3-keto-petromyzonol sulfate (3kPZS). As females mature, they undergo a dramatic behavioral shift and become attracted to the sex pheromone while avoiding the larval cue. The strong reliance on chemical signals represents a potential vulnerability that may be exploited. We have identified two compounds that disrupt female attraction the male released sex pheromone called pheromone behavioral antagonists. We used chemistry optimization to design and produce additional candidate antagonists, which were tested in olfactory assays and small-scale flume experiments for their ability to disrupt responses to a male pheromone 3kPZS. This project will examine how PIT‑tagged females respond behaviorally to selected candidate antagonists released upstream of a pheromone source in a stream.