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Odorant‐Binding Proteins of True Bugs: Generic Specificity, Sexual Dimorphism, and Association with Subsets of Chemosensory Sensilla
Author(s) -
DICKENS JOSEPH C.,
CALLAHAN FRANKLINE E.,
WERGIN WILLIAM P.,
MURPHY CHARLES A.,
VOGT RICHARD G.
Publication year - 1998
Publication title -
annals of the new york academy of sciences
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.712
H-Index - 248
eISSN - 1749-6632
pISSN - 0077-8923
DOI - 10.1111/j.1749-6632.1998.tb10587.x
Subject(s) - lygus , biology , sexual dimorphism , heteroptera , zoology , drosophila (subgenus) , olfactory receptor , olfaction , evolutionary biology , botany , neuroscience , miridae , genetics , gene
Odorant‐binding proteins (OBPs) in insects occur within olfactory sensilla, and are thought to transport chemical stimuli to receptors on dendrites of sensory neurons. Until recently, knowledge of OBPs in insects was limited to moths and Drosophila . We discovered an antennal‐specific protein ( Lygus [lineolaris] antennal protein, LAP) with a unique N ‐terminal sequence in the true bug, Lygus lineolaris . We localized LAP to antennae, determined its molecular weight (16 kDa), and showed that while it was expressed in nymphal antennae, its levels dramatically increased in adults concurrent with increases in numbers of olfactory sensilla and electrical responses to odors. In our current study, we used immunological techniques to demonstrate in more detail that LAP occurs only in antennae, and to show its expression within Lygus species. LAP was expressed more in male antennae than in antennae of females for the Lygus species examined. Anti‐LAP did not recognize antennal proteins of two other genera of bugs. Immunocytological studies showed LAP primarily within the sensillar lymph of type 1 and type 4 sensilla on antennae. These observations strongly suggest LAP to be an OBP, and our discovery and characterization of OBPs in true bugs provides a third order for use in the study of evolution of OBPs in insects.