Journal Article

Identification and Comparative Study of Chemosensory Genes Related to Host Selection by Legs Transcriptome Analysis in the Tea Geometrid Ectropis obliqua

Bian, Lei, Cai, Xiao-Ming, Ma, Long, Li, Zhao-Qun, Chen, Zong-Mao, Luo, Zong-Xiu, Zhang, Yong-Jun

2016

Overview

Host selection by female moths is fundamental to the survival of their larvae. Detecting and perceiving the non-volatile chemicals of the plant surface involved in gustatory detection determine the host preference. In many lepidopteran species, tarsal chemosensilla are sensitive to non-volatile chemicals and responsible for taste detection. The tea geometrid Ectropis obliqua is one devastating chewing pest selectively feeding on limited plants, requiring the specialized sensors to forage certain host for oviposition. In present study, we revealed the distribution of chemosensilla in the ventral side of female fifth tarsomere in E. obliqua. To investigate its molecular mechanism of gustatory perception, we performed HiSeq 2500 sequencing of the male- and female- legs transcriptome and identified 24 candidate odorant binding proteins (OBPs), 21 chemosensory proteins (CSPs), 2 sensory neuron membrane proteins (SNMPs), 3 gustatory receptors (GRs) and 4 odorant receptors (ORs). Several leg-specific or enriched chemosensory genes were screened by tissue expression analysis, and clustered with functionally validated genes from other moths, suggesting the potential involvement in taste sensation or other physiological processes. The RPKM value analysis revealed that 9 EoblOBPs showed sex discrepancy in the leg expression, 8 being up-regulated in female and only 1 being over expressed in male. These female-biased EoblOBPs indicated an ecological adaption related with host-seeking and oviposition behaviors. Our work will provide basic knowledge for further studies on the molecular mechanism of gustatory perception, and enlighten a host-selection-based control strategy of insect pests.

• Publisher: Public Library of Science,Public Library of Science (PLoS)
• Subject: Agriculture / Agrotis ipsilon / Amino Acid Sequence / Amino acids / Animals / Biology / Biology and Life Sciences / Butterflies & moths / Chemicals / Chemoreception / Chewing / Comparative studies / Drosophila / Drosophila melanogaster / Ectropis obliqua / Female / Gene expression / Gene Expression Profiling / Gene Ontology / Genes / Genetic aspects / Helicoverpa / Helicoverpa armigera / Host plants / Host preferences / Host selection / Insect pests / Insect Proteins - chemistry / Insect Proteins - genetics / Insects / Laboratories / Larvae / Leg / Legs / Lepidoptera / Ligands / Male / Mastication / Medicine and Health Sciences / Membrane proteins / Molecular Sequence Data / Moths - anatomy & histology / Moths - chemistry / Moths - genetics / Moths - physiology / Odorant receptors / Oviposition / Perception / Pests / Pheromones / Physiological aspects / Phytochemicals / Phytophagous insects / Plants - parasitology / Proteins / Receptors / Receptors, Odorant - chemistry / Receptors, Odorant - genetics / Sequence Alignment / Social Sciences / Taste / Taste perception / Taste receptors / Tea / Tissue analysis / Transcriptome / Value analysis