Abstract
Apolygus lucorum (Meyer-Dür) (Hemiptera: Miridae) is a serious pest of cotton, jujube, grape and many other crops around the world. Understanding how olfactory information directs this insect to its host plants may provide environment-friendly approaches to the control of its population in agriculture. In our study, we cloned an odorant receptor gene, AlucOR46, that was specifically expressed in antennae and female-biased. Functional expression of AlucOR46 in Xenopus oocytes showed that it is tuned to six plant volatiles (S)-(−)-Limonene, (R)-(+)-Limonene, (E)-2-Hexenal, (E)-3-Hexenol, 1-Heptanol and (1R)-(−)-Myrtenol. Electroantennogram (EAG) recordings revealed that all six compounds could elicit electrophysiological responses from the antennae of A. lucorum, higher in females. Our results are in agreement with previous reports showing that (E)-2-Hexenal could attract female A. lucorum in behavior experiments. These results suggest that AlucOR46 might play an important role in locating the host plants of A. lucorum and therefore represents a suitable target for green pest control.
Highlights
The green mirid bug, Apolygus lucorum (Meyer-Dür) (Hemiptera: Miridae) is an important worldwide pest
The expression pattern of AlucOR46 in different tissues of male and female A. lucorum was monitored by quantitative real-time PCR
The results show that AlucOR46 was mainly expressed in antennae with female levels nearly four times those of males, making AlucOR46 a typical female-biased gene (Figure 2)
Summary
The green mirid bug, Apolygus lucorum (Meyer-Dür) (Hemiptera: Miridae) is an important worldwide pest. Due to its serious damage in agriculture, A. lucorum became the object of many studies on its life cycle, habits and host plants preference [2,3,4]. A. lucorum is a highly polyphagous insect and feeds on over one hundred plant species. It can and frequently switch between habitats and host plants [1,3,5]. Behavior experiments using a Y-shaped olfactometer in the laboratory and field observations were performed to study the preferences of A. lucorum adults to six different host plant species and their volatiles [8]. Electroantennogram (EAG) responses of adult A. lucorum to different plant volatiles have been recorded [9]. Six electrophysiologically active compounds were identified, four of which proved to be strong attractants for adults of
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