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The sensory neurone membrane protein SNMP1 contributes to the sensitivity of a pheromone detection system
Author(s) -
Pregitzer P.,
Greschista M.,
Breer H.,
Krieger J.
Publication year - 2014
Publication title -
insect molecular biology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.955
H-Index - 93
eISSN - 1365-2583
pISSN - 0962-1075
DOI - 10.1111/imb.12119
Subject(s) - pheromone , stimulation , biology , sensory system , receptor , sex pheromone , calcium imaging , microbiology and biotechnology , neuroscience , biochemistry , calcium , medicine , botany
Male moths detect female‐released sex pheromones with extraordinary sensitivity. The remarkable sensory ability is based on a cooperative interplay of pheromone binding proteins in the lymph of hair‐like sensilla trichodea and pheromone receptors in the dendrites of sensory neurones. Here we examined whether in H eliothis virescens the so‐called ‘sensory neurone membrane protein 1’ ( SNMP1 ) may contribute to responsiveness to the pheromone component, ( Z )‐11‐hexadecenal ( Z11 ‐16: Ald ). By means of immunohistochemistry and in situ hybridization we demonstrated that SNMP1 is in fact present in cells expressing the Z11 ‐16: Ald receptor HR13 and the dendrites of sensory neurones. To assess a possible function of SNMP1 we monitored the responsiveness of cell lines that expressed HR13 alone or the combination SNMP1 / HR13 to stimulation with Z11‐16:Ald by calcium imaging. It was found that SNMP1 / HR13 cells were 1000‐fold more sensitive to pheromone stimulation compared with HR13 cells. In contrast, cells that expressed HR13 and the non‐neuronal SNMP2 ‐type showed no change in pheromone sensitivity. Overall, our reconstitution experiments demonstrate that the presence of SNMP1 significantly increases the HR13 ‐based responsiveness of cells to Z11 ‐16: Ald , suggesting that SNMP1 also contributes to the response of the antennal neurones and thus to the remarkable sensitivity of the pheromone detection system.