Abstract

In lepidopteran insects, odorant receptors are involved in the perception of sex pheromones and general odorants. In the Asian corn borer, Ostrinia furnacalis, although several pheromone receptors have been identified, no general odorant receptor has been reported. In this study, an RNA sequencing analysis was carried out to identify the whole repertoire of the odorant receptors expressed in the antennae of O. furnacalis. Among 12 million reads obtained from the antennae of male and female moths, 52 candidate odorant receptors were identified, including 45 novel ones. Expression levels of candidate odorant receptors were estimated by read mapping and quantitative reverse transcription PCR. These analyses confirmed that the expression of the previously identified pheromone receptors was highly male biased. In contrast, none of the newly identified odorant receptors showed male-biased expression. Three of the newly identified odorant receptors showed female-biased expression. Two of them were the most highly expressed odorant receptors in the female antennae, suggesting that they may be involved in the detection of odorants important for the induction of female-specific behaviors such as oviposition site selection. In addition, candidate genes of 21 ionotropic receptors, 5 gustatory receptors, 2 sensory neuron membrane proteins, and 26 odorant degrading enzymes were identified. Our results provide a basis for further analysis of the chemosensory system in the Ostrinia species.

Highlights

  • Odorant receptors of lepidopteran insects are classified into two major groups, pheromone receptors and general odorant receptors, primarily based on their functions [1, 2]

  • Seven of the nine previously identified pheromone receptors were found in the candidates, with the exception of OfurOR1

  • Pheromone receptors in O. furnacalis were cloned by degenerate PCR [12]

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Summary

Introduction

Odorant receptors of lepidopteran insects are classified into two major groups, pheromone receptors and general odorant receptors, primarily based on their functions [1, 2]. Pheromone receptors are specialized for the perception of sex pheromones that mediate sexual communication between males and females [3, 4]. General odorant receptors are considered to function in the perception of environmental odorants such as host-plant volatiles, the detection of which is crucial for the selection of oviposition. General odorant receptors are as important as pheromone receptors for understanding of the molecular basis of ecological characteristics of each lepidopteran species, but their identification and functional analysis has not been conducted to the same extent compared with those for pheromone receptors [8]

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