Abstract
Present study was carried out on the rodent pest, Rattus rattus to determine the chemistry of the clitoral gland (CG) of mature female house rats and its role in sexual and social communication. CG extracts from rats of different age groups and sexes were prepared using n-hexane and dichloromethane and were tested against house rats of different age groups and sexes. Results revealed that mature males were highly attracted towards and mature females were highly repelled from 50% CG extract of mature female rats in the estrous stage for five and six days, respectively. The attractant/repellent effect was established on day 1 and started diminishing by day 5 because of the slow release of volatiles from the extract. Comparison of gas chromatography linked mass spectrometry analysis of fresh and eight days old CG extract revealed the presence of six compounds (Tetradecanal; 2-Pentadecanone; 1-Hexadecanol; Dibutyl phthalate; Di-n-octyl phthalate; 1,2-Benzenedicarboxylic acid, dinonyl ester) that were exclusively present in fresh extract but absent in eight days old CG extract. These six compounds are already reported to have a role in sexual and social communication in mammals, insects and reptiles. They might be used by estrous female rats for sexual and social communication. In the future, the identified compounds can be used in fixed proportions individually and in various combinations after testing their efficacy to develop a stable lure to increase the trappability and acceptability of antifertility agents and rodenticide-based baits for the management of house rats.
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Acknowledgements
The authors are grateful to the Professor and Head, Department of Zoology, Punjab Agricultural University (PAU), Ludhiana, for providing the essential facilities for the experiment. Data was earlier presented in the form of oral presentation during the 7th International Conference on Rodent Biology and Management held at Arusha, Tanzania. July 5-8, 2022 by Bindu Bala and BK Babbar.
Funding
This work was supported by the Indian Council of Agricultural Research, New Delhi ICAR-36 (Part A) under the All India Network Project on Vertebrate Pest Management. Dr. B. K. Babbar has received research support from the Indian Council of Agricultural Research, New Delhi.
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Dr. B.K. Babbar contributed to the study's conception and design. Material preparation, data collection, and analysis were performed by Bindu Bala. The first draft of the manuscript was written by Bindu Bala. Dr. B. K. Babbar commented on the first version of the manuscript. Both authors read and approved the final version of the manuscript.
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Bala, B., Babbar, B.K. Sex pheromones of clitoral gland: Their chemical identification and role in social and reproductive behaviour of house rat, Rattus rattus. Biologia 78, 3533–3546 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11756-023-01490-8
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11756-023-01490-8