Abstract
Moths depend on olfactory cues such as sex pheromones to find and recognize mating partners. Pheromone receptors (PRs) and Pheromone binding proteins (PBPs) are thought to be associated with olfactory signal transduction of pheromonal compounds in peripheral olfactory reception. Here six candidate pheromone receptor genes in the diamondback moth, Plutella xyllostella were identified and cloned. All of the six candidate PR genes display male-biased expression, which is a typical characteristic of pheromone receptors. In the Xenopus-based functional study and in situ hybridization, PxylOR4 is defined as another pheromone receptor in addition to the previously characterized PxylOR1. In the study of interaction between PRs and PBPs, PxylPBPs could increase the sensitivity of the complex expressing oocyte cells to the ligand pheromone component while decreasing the sensitivity to pheromone analogs. We deduce that activating pheromone receptors in olfactory receptor neurons requires some role of PBPs to pheromone/PBP complex. If the chemical signal is not the pheromone component, but instead, a pheromone analog with a similar structure, the complex would have a decreased ability to activate downstream pheromone receptors.
Highlights
Olfaction plays an indispensable role in mediating critical insect behaviors such as food selection, predator and noxious agent avoidance, and appropriate mating-partner choice [1,2]
The pheromone receptor BmorOR1 was identified through the following evidence: a) BmorOR1 encodes a 430-aa protein with seven putative trans-membrane domains that are characteristic to all odorant receptors; b) BmorOR1 is a maleantennae specific OR in RT-PCR experiments; this is a typical characteristic of pheromone receptors; c) BmorOR1 mRNA was localized to the specific cells in the male antennae in the region carrying chemosensory hairs, and pheromone binding proteins (PBPs) mRNA was expressed in supporting cells that surround BmorOR1; d) two-electrode voltage clamp recordings of Xenopus oocytes provide evidence that BmOR1 functions as a bombykol receptor in a heterologous cell system; e) ectopic expression of BmorOR1 in female antennae conferred responsiveness to bombykol indicating that BmorOR1 functions as a highly specific receptor for bombykol in the silkmoth antennae
We have identified six receptors from P. xylostella that could be assigned to the relatively conserved group of moth pheromone receptors in an insect OR phylogenetic tree (Figure 2)
Summary
Olfaction plays an indispensable role in mediating critical insect behaviors such as food selection, predator and noxious agent avoidance, and appropriate mating-partner choice [1,2]. Chemosensory systems, such as taste and smell, involve a complex process from the peripheral transduction of the chemical signal through olfactory neurons to electrical signal processing in central nervous system [3]. Since the BmOR1 was identified and functionally characterized, other moth pheromone receptors have been studied through some or all of the above experiment methodologies. These receptors are primarily identified by genomic sequence [12,14], Primer name
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