Evolution of scent compounds and chemical communication in Carnivora

• Applicant: Professor Dr. Olaf Bininda-Emonds
• Subject Area: Animal Physiology and Biochemistry
• Term: from 2005 to 2008
• Project identifier: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 5451594

Chemical communication in mammals is a complex research area integrating information from physiology, biochemistry, evolutionary biology, and molecular ecology. Its key role in species and individual recognition has important implications for conservation. Despite this, the known data are fragmented such that a comprehensive, comparative treatment is badly needed. Building on two pilot projects, the proposed research will investigate the evolution of chemical communication in the mammalian family Canidae (dogs and relatives). The multidisciplinary program will synthesize research in the above areas using bioinformatics to process the large amounts of data to be produced. The goals are 1) to document variation in scent gland compounds throughout Canidae at the intra- and interspecific levels in terms of their presence versus absence, concentration, and chemical composition; and 2) to relate this variation to individual (e.g., reproductive status), species (e.g., home range size), and metabolic (e.g., pathway information) characteristics in a statistical and phylogenetic framework to establish functional and evolutionary constraints on chemical communication. All data will be freely available via an open-access database. Related aspects include developing chemical signatures for species bar coding for use in the field and to determine the species status of controversial taxa. The protocols established and themes researched can be applied to investigate the evolution of diverse semiochemicals in unrelated taxonomic groups (e.g., defense compounds in plants).

• DFG Programme: Research Grants