Silefrin, a sodefrin-like pheromone in the abdominal gland of the sword-tailed newt, Cynops ensicauda

Sodefrin-like female-attracting pheromone was purified from the abdominal g lands of male sword-tailed newts, Cynops ensicauda, by gel-filtration chrom atography and reversed-phase high-performance liquid chromatography. The fi nal product comprises 10 amino acid residues with the sequence SILSKDAQLK,w hich coincided with the sequence deduced from its precursor cDNA. This pept ide was designated silefrin, The sequence of silefrin was different from th at of sodefrin bg two amino acid residues, with substitutions Leu for Pro a nd Gin for Leu at positions 3 and 8, respectively. Both native and syntheti c silefrin exerted an equipotent activity in attracting conspecific females . (C) 2000 Federation of European Biochemical Societies.