Researchers have pinpointed a molecule produced by male goats that activates reproduction in females outside of their normal breeding season.

Yukari Takeuchi at the University of Tokyo and her colleagues used a special cap to capture 18 different pheromone molecules emitted from the heads of male goats. They then exposed females to the molecules, and used implanted electrodes to monitor activity in a brain region that regulates reproduction. One molecule, 4-ethyloctanal, triggered the biggest response of all the compounds tested.

This is the first molecule shown to stimulate a key regulator of reproduction in mammals called the gonadotropin releasing hormone pulse generator.

Curr. Biol. http://doi.org/rqv (2014)