Functional characterization of pheromone receptor candidates in codling moth Cydia pomonella (Lepidoptera: Tortricidae)

Abstract

Sex pheromones serve a critical role in Lepidopterans finding mates. Male moths perceive and react to sex pheromones emitted by conspecific females through a delicate pheromone communication system. Pheromone receptors (PRs) are the key sensory elements at the beginning of that process. The codling moth (Cydia pomnonella) is an important pome fruit pest globally and a serious invasive species in China. Pheromonebased techniques have been used successfully in monitoring and controlling this species. We conducted ribonucleic acid sequencing analysis of the codling moth antennal transcriptome and identified 66 odorant receptors (ORs) in a population from Xinjiang province, China, of which 14 were PRs, including two novel PRs (CpomOR2e and CpomOR73). Four PRs that contain full-length open reading frames (CpomOR1, OR2a, OR5, OR7) and four PRs with ligands that have not been reported previously (CpomOR1, OR2a, OR5, OR7) were selected to deorphanize in the heterologous Xenopus oocyte expression system. Specifically, we found that CpomOR2a and CpomOR5 responded to (E, E)-8, 10-dodecadien-1-yl acetate (codlemone acetate). Furthermore, CpomOR5 (EC 50 = 1.379 × 10 −8 mol/L) was much more sensitive to codlemone acetate than CpomOR2a (EC 50 = 1.663 × 10 −6 mol/L). Since codlemone acetate is an important component of C. pomonella sex pheromone, our results improve the current understanding of pheromone communication in codling moths and will be helpful for the development of pest management strategies.

Identification of Chemosensory Genes, Including Candidate Pheromone Receptors, in Phauda flammans (Walker) (Lepidoptera: Phaudidae) Through Transcriptomic Analyses

“…The results of RTq-PCR analysis show that PflaOR21, PflaOR27, PflaOR29, PflaOR35, PflaOR37, PflaOR40, PflaOR42, PflaOR44, PflaOR60, and PflaOR62 have sex-biased expression in male antennae and may be involved as specificity-sensing sex pheromone compound. These results are similar to those of CpomPRs (i.e., CpomOR1, CpomOR2a, CpomOR5, and CpomOR7) in C. pomonella, in which CpomOR2a and CpomOR5 respond to an important component of C. pomonella sex pheromone (Tian et al, 2021). Classical (i.e., PflaOR27, PflaOR29, PflaOR44, PflaOR60, and PflaOR62) and novel (i.e., PflaOR21, PflaOR35, PflaOR37, PflaOR40, and PflaOR42) PR clades show male sex-biased expression in the antennae.…”

“…Among the receptor proteins, PRs are a special type of OR that participate in pheromone reception (Wu et al, 2022). Therefore, extensive studies have been conducted on its identification and function in insect pests for potential control (Tian et al, 2021), including BmOR1 and BmOR2 of B. mori (Sakurai et al, 2004;Nakagawa et al, 2005);HR13, HR14, and HR16 of H. virescens (Grosse-Wilde et al, 2007); and PxOR1, MsOR1, and DiOR1 of Plutella xylostella, Mythimna separata, and Diaphania indica, respectively (Mitsuno et al, 2008).…”

Ionotropic receptor 8a is involved in the attraction of Helicoverpa armigera to acetic acid

“…External chemical signals are detected by odorant receptors (ORs), gustatory receptors (GRs), and ionotropic receptors (IRs) on the dendritic membrane of these OSNs, and are converted into electrical signals and transmitted to the brain (Leal, 2013; Fleischer et al ., 2018). ORs are mainly in response to plant volatiles and sex pheromones, which contain messages pertaining to food, alarms, and mates (Leal, 2013; Cao et al ., 2016; Chang et al ., 2017; Cui et al ., 2018; Fleischer et al ., 2018; Liu et al ., 2018; Zhang et al ., 2019a; Cao et al ., 2020; Chen et al ., 2020; Guo et al ., 2020; Li et al ., 2020; Tian et al ., 2021). For instance, males have pheromone receptors to detect sex pheromones released by females for mating.…”

Sex Pheromone Receptors of Lepidopteran Insects

“…et al, 2016. Phylogenetic analysis constructed with 10 SPRs from Cydia fagiglandana, 7 SPRs from Hedya nubiferana, 8 SPRs from B. mori, 6 SPRs from E. postvittana, and 14 SPRs from C. pomonella revealed that the four genes (i.e., CpomOR1, CpomOR2a, CpomOR5, and CpomOR7) were clustered with Lepidopteran SPRs (Tian et al, 2020). In the phylogenetic tree of SPR subfamily proteins, OR1/3/4/5/6/7/8 of different Ostrinia species, respectively, formed a clade (Miura et al, 2010).…”

“…The two-electrode voltage-clamp recording was conducted in Xenopus oocytes coinjected with complementary RNAs encoding BmOR1 and BmOR2 to test the bombykolinducing current response (Nakagawa et al, 2005). The similar method was used in a specific pheromone detection of PxylOR1/4/8/41/45 (Sun et al, 2013;Liu et al, 2018), MsexOR1 (Wicher et al, 2017), EgirOR1 (Li et al, 2017), MsepOR2/3 (Jiang et al, 2019(Jiang et al, , 2020, HvirOR6/13/14/16 (Wang et al, 2011), SexiOR13/16 , SinfOR21/29 (Zhang et al, 2014), AlepOR3/4/6 (Zhang et al, 2019), HarmORs/HassORs Liu et al, 2014;Jiang et al, 2014;Xu et al, 2015), AsegOR1/4/5/6/9 (Zhang and Lofstedt, 2013), SlituOR6/13/16 (Zhang et al, 2015), CpomOR2a/5 (Tian et al, 2020), AtraOR1/3 (Xu et al, 2012), and OlatOR1/OovaOR1/OscaOR1/3/4/5 (Miura et al, 2009(Miura et al, , 2010. HEK293/sf9 cell calcium assay verified the sex pheromone component of ApolOR1, HassOR13, CoblOR7, and CherOR7 (Forstner et al, 2009;Jordan et al, 2009;Liu et al, 2014;Steinwender et al, 2015;Xu et al, 2015).…”