Bourgeonal
Encyclopedia
Bourgeonal is an aromatic
aldehyde
used in perfumery. It has a fragrance reminiscent of Lily of the Valley
, otherwise described as floral, watery, green and aldehydic. It is a pale yellow liquid at room temperature.
It is toxic if swallowed and can cause skin irritation and sensitisation on contact.
Recently it was found that in vitro, bourgeonal acts as a chemoattractant for human spermatozoa, activating an olfactory receptor called OR1D2 (formerly called hOR17-4) which opens calcium ion channels in the sperm
, leading them to swim twice as fast.
Bourgeonal is suspected to be involved in helping sperm locate the ovum
. As of 2010, Bourgeonal is the only known odor substance to which males have a higher average sensitivity than females. This is thought to be because the same olfactory receptor (OR1D2) is expressed in non-olfactory tissue in sperm cells as well as the olfactory tissue of the nose. The involvement with sperm chemotaxis
causes an evolutionary pressure for males (sexual selection
) that causes them to have more OR1D2 receptors on average, both in the nose as well as in sperm.
Aromaticity
In organic chemistry, Aromaticity is a chemical property in which a conjugated ring of unsaturated bonds, lone pairs, or empty orbitals exhibit a stabilization stronger than would be expected by the stabilization of conjugation alone. The earliest use of the term was in an article by August...
aldehyde
Aldehyde
An aldehyde is an organic compound containing a formyl group. This functional group, with the structure R-CHO, consists of a carbonyl center bonded to hydrogen and an R group....
used in perfumery. It has a fragrance reminiscent of Lily of the Valley
Lily of the Valley
Convallaria majalis , commonly known as the lily-of-the-valley, is a poisonous woodland flowering plant native throughout the cool temperate Northern Hemisphere in Asia and Europe....
, otherwise described as floral, watery, green and aldehydic. It is a pale yellow liquid at room temperature.
It is toxic if swallowed and can cause skin irritation and sensitisation on contact.
Recently it was found that in vitro, bourgeonal acts as a chemoattractant for human spermatozoa, activating an olfactory receptor called OR1D2 (formerly called hOR17-4) which opens calcium ion channels in the sperm
Sperm
The term sperm is derived from the Greek word sperma and refers to the male reproductive cells. In the types of sexual reproduction known as anisogamy and oogamy, there is a marked difference in the size of the gametes with the smaller one being termed the "male" or sperm cell...
, leading them to swim twice as fast.
Bourgeonal is suspected to be involved in helping sperm locate the ovum
Ovum
An ovum is a haploid female reproductive cell or gamete. Both animals and embryophytes have ova. The term ovule is used for the young ovum of an animal, as well as the plant structure that carries the female gametophyte and egg cell and develops into a seed after fertilization...
. As of 2010, Bourgeonal is the only known odor substance to which males have a higher average sensitivity than females. This is thought to be because the same olfactory receptor (OR1D2) is expressed in non-olfactory tissue in sperm cells as well as the olfactory tissue of the nose. The involvement with sperm chemotaxis
Chemotaxis
Chemotaxis is the phenomenon in which somatic cells, bacteria, and other single-cell or multicellular organisms direct their movements according to certain chemicals in their environment. This is important for bacteria to find food by swimming towards the highest concentration of food molecules,...
causes an evolutionary pressure for males (sexual selection
Sexual selection
Sexual selection, a concept introduced by Charles Darwin in his 1859 book On the Origin of Species, is a significant element of his theory of natural selection...
) that causes them to have more OR1D2 receptors on average, both in the nose as well as in sperm.