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Review of pheromone receptors in heliothine species: expression, function, and evolution
Author(s) -
Yang Ke,
Wang ChenZhu
Publication year - 2021
Publication title -
entomologia experimentalis et applicata
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.765
H-Index - 83
eISSN - 1570-7458
pISSN - 0013-8703
DOI - 10.1111/eea.12982
Subject(s) - biology , pheromone , sex pheromone , helicoverpa armigera , lepidoptera genitalia , heliothis virescens , heterologous expression , noctuidae , xenopus , pest analysis , receptor , insect , helicoverpa , evolutionary biology , neuroscience , zoology , ecology , genetics , botany , gene , recombinant dna
Heliothine species (Lepidoptera: Noctuidae, Heliothinae) include some of the world’s most devastating pest species, such as Heliothis virescens (Fabricius) in the Americas and Helicoverpa armigera (Hübner) in the Old World. Sex pheromone communication of these agricultural pest species has been investigated from pheromone receptors (PRs) to brains and behavior in detail. In recent years, great progress has been made in the mechanistic dissection of pheromone reception, demonstrating that PRs play a key role in determining the response characteristics of pheromone‐sensitive olfactory receptor neurons. In this review, we focus on the functional characterization of PRs in heliothine species, and summarize recent progress in the identification of receptors tuned to principal sex pheromone components including Z11‐16:Ald, Z9‐16:Ald, Z9‐14:Ald, and other related alcohols and acetates. Evolution of PRs in ligand selectivity is also discussed. The efficiency and faithfulness of three frequently used heterologous expression systems – Xenopus laevis Daudin oocytes, modified HEK 293 cells, and Drosophila ‘empty neuron’ mutants – are compared, and the research strategies, skills, and perspectives in the studies are envisioned. Finally, we propose future research topics on PRs in heliothine species.