Professor

Email Dr. Richard Feldhoff
Phone Number: 502-852-5752
Fax: 502-852-6222

Address: 319 Abraham Flexner Way, Bldg. A, Room 514
Louisville, KY 40202

PhD, Florida State University

Area of Interest:

Drs. Rick and Pamela Feldhoff collaborate with Drs. Lynne Houck and Stevan Arnold at Oregon State University on the effects of courtship pheromones on reproductive behavior in Plethodontid salamanders. During courtship, a male Plethodon shermani salamander delivers pheromones from a submandibular mental gland to the female’s nares. Following binding of pheromones to receptors in the vomeronasal organ, female receptivity increases. The pheromone mixture consists of two major families, each of which contains multiple isoforms. The 22 kDa family (Plethodontid Receptivity Factor; PRF) is related to the IL-6 family of cytokines, while the 7 kDa family (Plethodontid Modulating Factor; PMF) is related to xenoxins and snake cytotoxins. Efforts at Oregon State focus on the behavioral biology aspects of the project. Current research efforts in our lab, utilizing contemporary techniques in protein biochemistry, molecular biology and mass spectral analyses, are focused on the purification and characterization of the PRF and PMF isoforms, including the determination of the complex disulfide bonding pattern for PMF.  Pheromone studies are also being extended to the more primitive species, Desmognathus ocoee and Plethodon cinereus.

Selected Publications

Wack CL, DuRant SE, Hopkins WA, Lovern MB, Feldhoff RC, Woodley SK.  (2011) Exposure to pheromones increases plasma corticosterone concentrations in a terrestrial salamander. Comp Biochem Physiol A Mol Integr Physiol. 2012 Feb;161(2):153-8. Epub 2011 Oct 25. PMID: 19523389

Schubert SN, Wack CL, Houck LD, Feldhoff PW, Feldhoff RC, and Woodley SK.  (2009)  Exposure to pheromones increases plasma corticosterone concentrations in a terrestrial salamander.  Gen Comp Endocrinol. 2009 Apr;161(2):271-5. Epub 2009 Jan 31.

Houck LD, Watts RA, Arnold SJ, Bowen KE, Kiemnec KM, Godwin HA, Feldhoff PW, and Feldhoff RC.  (2008)  A recombinant courtship pheromone affects sexual receptivity in a plethodontid salamander.  Chem. Senses 33:623-631.

Schubert SN, Houck LD, Feldhoff PW, Feldhoff RC and Woodley SK.  (2008)  The effects of sex and female reproductive condition on chemosensory communication in a terrestrial salamander (Plethodon shermani).  Hormones and Behavior 54:270-277.

Laberge F, Feldhoff RC, Feldhoff PW and Houck LD. (2008) Courtship pheromone-induced c-Fos-like immunolabeling in the female salamander brain. Neuroscience (In Press - January 2008)

Houck LD, Arnold SJ, Feldhoff PW and Feldhoff RC. (2007) A salamander signaling system: from gene to protein to female response. Fourth International Symposium on Amphibian and Reptile Endocrinology and Neurobiology Annual Meeting, Berkeley, CA, March 26-28, 2007.

Houck LD, Arnold S, Feldhoff PW and Feldhoff RC. (2007) Vertebrate pheromones affect female receptivity in salamnders. Assoc. for Chemoreception Sciences (AChemS XXIX), Sarasota, Fl, April 25-29, 2007. AChemS Abstract #A213.

Houck LD, Watts RA, Mead LM, Palmer CA, Arnold SJ, Feldhoff PW and Feldhoff RC. (2007) A candidate vertebrate pheromone, SPF, increases female receptivity in a salamander. pp 213-221. In: J. Hurst, R. Beynon, and D. Muller-Schwarze, (eds.), Chemical Signals in Vertebrates 11, Springer, New York.

Palmer CA, Hollis DM, Watts RA, Houck LD, McCall MA, Gregg RG, Feldhoff PW, Feldhoff RC and Arnold SJ. (2007) Plethodontid Modulating Factor (PMF), a hyper-variable salamander courtship pheromone in the three-finger protein superfamily. FEBS Journal 274(9):2300-2310.

Houck LD, Palmer CA, Watts RA, Arnold SJ, Feldhoff PW and Feldhoff RC. (2007) A new vertebrate courtship pheromone, PMF, affects female receptivity in a terrestrial salamander. Animal Behaviour 73: 315-320.

Schubert SN, Houck LD, Feldhoff PW, Feldhoff RC and Woodley SK. (2006). Effects of androgens on behavioral and vomeronasal responses to chemosensory cues in male terrestrial salamanders (Plethodon shermani). Hormones and Behavior 50 (3):469-476.

Wirsig-Wiechmann CR, Houck LD, Wood JM, Feldhoff PW and Feldhoff RC. (2006) Male pheromone protein components activate female vomeronasal neurons in the salamander Plethodon shermani. BMC Neuroscience 7:26

Stapp JM, Sjoelund V, Lassiter HA, Feldhoff RC and Feldhoff PW. (2005) Recombinant rat IL-1-beta and IL-6 synergistically enhance C3 mRNA levels and complement component C3 secretion. Cytokine 30 (2): 78-85.

Watts RA, Palmer CA, Feldhoff RC, Feldhoff PW, Houck LD, Jones AG, Pfrender ME, Rollmann SM and Arnold SJ (2004) Stabilizing selection on behavior and morphology masks positive selection on the signal in a salamander pheromone signaling complex. Molecular Biology and Evolution 21 (6): 1032-1041.

Rollmann SM, Houck LD, and Feldhoff RC. (2003) Conspecific and heterospecific pheromone effects on female receptivity. Animal Behaviour 66, 857-861.

Wirsig-Wiechmann CR, Houck LD, Feldhoff PW and Feldhoff RC. (2002) Pheromonal activation of vomeronasal neurons in plethodontid salamanders. Brain Research 952(2): 335-344.

Rollmann SM, Houck LD, and Feldhoff RC. (2000) Population variation in salamander courtship pheromones. J. Chem. Ecol. 26, 2713-2723.

Rollmann SM, Houck LD, and Feldhoff RC. (1999) Proteinaceous pheromone affecting female receptivity in a terrestrial salamander. Science 285, 1907-1909.