昆虫气味受体研究进展

嗅觉在昆虫的多种行为中发挥关键作用。气味分子与嗅觉神经元树突上气味受体的结合，参与了昆虫嗅觉识别的初始过程。昆虫的嗅觉神经元表达两类气味受体： 一是传统气味受体，该类受体同源性较低，在少部分嗅觉神经元中表达； 二是Or83b家族受体，该类受体不感受气味，在不同昆虫间较为保守且在大多数嗅觉神经元中表达。目前，对于单个传统气味受体的气味分子配体特异性所知甚少； 对于Or83b家族受体，一般认为其可能具有将传统气味受体运送至嗅觉神经元树突膜上的功能。此外，有一些实验证据不支持昆虫气味受体为G蛋白偶联受体的观点。

Research advances in odorant receptors in insects

Olfaction plays a critical role in many insect behaviors.The initial steps in odor detection involve the binding of an odor to the odorant receptor displayed on dendrites of olfactory sensory neurons(OSNs).Insect OSNs express two types of odorant receptor(OR):conventional ORs,highly divergent family of receptors that are expressed in small subpopulations of OSNs;one member of Or83b family receptors,a receptor without odor sensitivity,which is expressed in the majority of OSNs and remarkably conserved across insect species.Until recently,little was known about the ligand specificity of individual conventional ORs in insect species.Or83b family proteins may facilitate trafficking of conventional ORs to the dendritic membrane of OSNs and contribute to signal transduction.Besides,there are several challenging evidences against the assumption that insect ORs belong to the family of G protein-coupled receptor(GPCR).