Characterization of a peptide from skin secretions of male specimens of the frog, Leptodactylus fallax that stimulates aggression in male frogs

Jay D. King; Louise A. Rollins-Smith; Per F. Nielsen; Anne John; J. Michael Conlon

doi:10.1016/j.peptides.2004.11.004

Characterization of a peptide from skin secretions of male specimens of the frog, Leptodactylus fallax that stimulates aggression in male frogs

Jay D. King, Louise A. Rollins-Smith, Per F. Nielsen, Anne John, J. Michael Conlon

School of Biomedical Sciences

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

40 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

During the breeding season of the mountain chicken frog Leptodactylus fallax, fighting between males results in the emergence of dominant animals that subsequently attract females to nesting sites. A peptide, termed Leptodactylus aggression-stimulating peptide (LASP), was isolated from norepinephrine- stimulated skin secretions from male specimens of L. fallax that was not present in skin secretions obtained from females. The primary structure of the peptide was established as: Gly-Leu-Trp-Asp-Asp-Leu-Lys-Ala-Ala-Ala-Lys-Lys-Val-Val-Ser- Ser-Leu-Ala-Ser-Ala-Ala-Ile-Glu-Lys-Leu NH₂. LASP had no pheromone-like action on females but had a chemoattractive effect on males and stimulated aggressive behaviors, such as rearing and leaping. It is suggested that this peptide may play an important role in initiating the competitive male-male interactions that are associated with the onset of reproductive behavior in L. fallax.

Original language	English
Pages (from-to)	597-601
Number of pages	5
Journal	Peptides
Volume	26
Issue number	4
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1016/j.peptides.2004.11.004
Publication status	Published (in print/issue) - Apr 2005

Funding

This work was supported by an Interdisciplinary grant (03/12-8-03-01) and a Faculty Support grant (NP/04/02) from the United Arab Emirates University and to JMC and by an NSF Integrated Research Challenges in Environmental Biology grant (DEB-0213851, J. Collins P.I.) and NSF grant (IBN-0131184) to L R-S. The authors thank Laurey Steinke and Michele Fontaine (University of Nebraska Medical Center, Omaha, NE) for amino acid composition analysis. The support of the Forestry, Wildlife, and Parks Division of the Commonwealth of Dominica is gratefully acknowledged.

Funders	Funder number
National Science Foundation	IBN-0131184, DEB-0213851
United Arab Emirates University

Keywords

Fallaxin
Frog skin
Peptide purification
Pheromone
Reproductive behavior

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10.1016/j.peptides.2004.11.004

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title = "Characterization of a peptide from skin secretions of male specimens of the frog, Leptodactylus fallax that stimulates aggression in male frogs",

abstract = "During the breeding season of the mountain chicken frog Leptodactylus fallax, fighting between males results in the emergence of dominant animals that subsequently attract females to nesting sites. A peptide, termed Leptodactylus aggression-stimulating peptide (LASP), was isolated from norepinephrine- stimulated skin secretions from male specimens of L. fallax that was not present in skin secretions obtained from females. The primary structure of the peptide was established as: Gly-Leu-Trp-Asp-Asp-Leu-Lys-Ala-Ala-Ala-Lys-Lys-Val-Val-Ser- Ser-Leu-Ala-Ser-Ala-Ala-Ile-Glu-Lys-Leu NH2. LASP had no pheromone-like action on females but had a chemoattractive effect on males and stimulated aggressive behaviors, such as rearing and leaping. It is suggested that this peptide may play an important role in initiating the competitive male-male interactions that are associated with the onset of reproductive behavior in L. fallax.",

keywords = "Fallaxin, Frog skin, Peptide purification, Pheromone, Reproductive behavior",

author = "King, \{Jay D.\} and Rollins-Smith, \{Louise A.\} and Nielsen, \{Per F.\} and Anne John and Conlon, \{J. Michael\}",

year = "2005",

month = apr,

doi = "10.1016/j.peptides.2004.11.004",

language = "English",

volume = "26",

pages = "597--601",

journal = "Peptides",

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T1 - Characterization of a peptide from skin secretions of male specimens of the frog, Leptodactylus fallax that stimulates aggression in male frogs

AU - King, Jay D.

AU - Rollins-Smith, Louise A.

AU - Nielsen, Per F.

AU - John, Anne

AU - Conlon, J. Michael

PY - 2005/4

Y1 - 2005/4

N2 - During the breeding season of the mountain chicken frog Leptodactylus fallax, fighting between males results in the emergence of dominant animals that subsequently attract females to nesting sites. A peptide, termed Leptodactylus aggression-stimulating peptide (LASP), was isolated from norepinephrine- stimulated skin secretions from male specimens of L. fallax that was not present in skin secretions obtained from females. The primary structure of the peptide was established as: Gly-Leu-Trp-Asp-Asp-Leu-Lys-Ala-Ala-Ala-Lys-Lys-Val-Val-Ser- Ser-Leu-Ala-Ser-Ala-Ala-Ile-Glu-Lys-Leu NH2. LASP had no pheromone-like action on females but had a chemoattractive effect on males and stimulated aggressive behaviors, such as rearing and leaping. It is suggested that this peptide may play an important role in initiating the competitive male-male interactions that are associated with the onset of reproductive behavior in L. fallax.

AB - During the breeding season of the mountain chicken frog Leptodactylus fallax, fighting between males results in the emergence of dominant animals that subsequently attract females to nesting sites. A peptide, termed Leptodactylus aggression-stimulating peptide (LASP), was isolated from norepinephrine- stimulated skin secretions from male specimens of L. fallax that was not present in skin secretions obtained from females. The primary structure of the peptide was established as: Gly-Leu-Trp-Asp-Asp-Leu-Lys-Ala-Ala-Ala-Lys-Lys-Val-Val-Ser- Ser-Leu-Ala-Ser-Ala-Ala-Ile-Glu-Lys-Leu NH2. LASP had no pheromone-like action on females but had a chemoattractive effect on males and stimulated aggressive behaviors, such as rearing and leaping. It is suggested that this peptide may play an important role in initiating the competitive male-male interactions that are associated with the onset of reproductive behavior in L. fallax.

KW - Fallaxin

KW - Frog skin

KW - Peptide purification

KW - Pheromone

KW - Reproductive behavior

UR - https://www.scopus.com/pages/publications/14744278931

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DO - 10.1016/j.peptides.2004.11.004

M3 - Article

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AN - SCOPUS:14744278931

SN - 0196-9781

VL - 26

SP - 597

EP - 601

JO - Peptides

JF - Peptides

IS - 4

ER -

Characterization of a peptide from skin secretions of male specimens of the frog, Leptodactylus fallax that stimulates aggression in male frogs

Abstract

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Keywords

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