Ectocarpene is a sexual attractant, or

pheromone A pheromone () is a secreted or excreted chemical factor that triggers a social response in members of the same species. Pheromones are chemicals capable of acting like hormones outside the body of the secreting individual, to affect the behavio ...

, found with several species of

brown algae Brown algae (singular: alga), comprising the class Phaeophyceae, are a large group of multicellular algae, including many seaweeds located in colder waters within the Northern Hemisphere. Brown algae are the major seaweeds of the temperate and po ...

(

Phaeophyceae Brown algae (singular: alga), comprising the class Phaeophyceae, are a large group of multicellular algae, including many seaweeds located in colder waters within the Northern Hemisphere. Brown algae are the major seaweeds of the temperate and po ...

). The substance has a fruity scent and can be sensed by humans when millions of algae

gametes A gamete (; , ultimately ) is a haploid cell that fuses with another haploid cell during fertilization in organisms that reproduce sexually. Gametes are an organism's reproductive cells, also referred to as sex cells. In species that produce ...

swarm the

seawater Seawater, or salt water, is water from a sea or ocean. On average, seawater in the world's oceans has a salinity of about 3.5% (35 g/L, 35 ppt, 600 mM). This means that every kilogram (roughly one liter by volume) of seawater has appro ...

and the females start emitting the substance to attract the male gametes. Ectocarpene was the first isolated algal pheromone. It was isolated from algae ''Ectocarpus'' (order ''

Ectocarpales Ectocarpales is a very large order in the brown algae (class Phaeophyceae). The order includes families with pseudoparenchymatous (Splachnidiaceae) or true parenchymatous ( Scytosiphonaceae) tissue. Pseudoparenchymatous refers to a filamento ...

'') by Müller and col. in 1971. More recent studies have shown that a pre-ectocarpene compound may be responsible for actual attraction of the male gametes. Moreover, Ectocarpene’s presence, in 2010, has been identified within the ''

Capsicum ''Capsicum'' () is a genus of flowering plants in the Solanum, nightshade family Solanaceae, native to Americas, the Americas, cultivated worldwide for their chili pepper or bell pepper fruit. Etymology and names The generic name may come f ...

'' fruit for the first time. Studies concluded that its "sweet and green" aroma surfaced through identification tests as well as sensory tests. Its relatively low but influential presence helps develop the ''Capsicum'' fruit’s profile. (E)-Ectocarpene is a product associated to a group referred to as Bryophytes, a family of liverworts, algae, and other species with medicinal and nutritional properties. It is suggested that (E)-Ectocarpene may have an evolutionary relationship between families of liverworts and algae as its concentration of formation varies based on the species’ environmental conditions. All the double bonds are ''cis'' and the absolute configuration of the

stereocenter In stereochemistry, a stereocenter of a molecule is an atom (center), axis or plane that is the focus of stereoisomerism; that is, when having at least three different groups bound to the stereocenter, interchanging any two different groups c ...

is (''S'').

References

External links

Evidence of ectocarpene and dictyopterenes A and C’ in the water of a freshwater lake’
Alkene derivatives Hydrocarbons Pheromones Ectocarpales Cycloalkenes {{biochem-stub

See also

References

External links