Open AccessA Conserved Odorant Receptor Tuned to Floral Volatiles in Three Heliothinae Species
Author(s) -
Song Cao,
Yang Liu,
Mengbo Guo,
Guirong Wang
Publication year - 2016
Publication title -
plos one
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.99
H-Index - 332
ISSN - 1932-6203
DOI - 10.1371/journal.pone.0155029
Subject(s) - helicoverpa armigera , biology , helicoverpa , heliothis virescens , heterologous expression , insect , heterologous , host (biology) , xenopus , manduca , zoology , manduca sexta , botany , larva , genetics , noctuidae , gene , recombinant dna
Odorant receptors (ORs) play an important role in insects to monitor and adapt to the external environment, such as host plant location, oviposition-site selection, mate recognition and natural enemy avoidance. In our study, we identified and characterized OR12 from three closely-related species, Helicoverpa armigera , Helicoverpa assulta , Heliothis virescens , sharing between 90 and 98% of their amino acids. The tissue expression pattern analysis in H . armigera showed that HarmOR12 was strongly expressed both in male and female antennae, but not in other tissues. Functional analysis performed in the heterologous Xenopus expression system showed that all three OR12 were tuned to six structurally related plant volatiles. Electroantennogram recordings from male and female antennae of H . armigera closely matched the data of in vitro functional studies. Our results revealed that OR12 has a conserved role in Heliothinae moths and might represent a suitable target for the control of these crop pests.