橘小实蝇化学通讯机制与引诱剂开发策略

实蝇是全球重大的果蔬虫害,对世界年均造成的经济损失高达20亿美元。橘小实蝇Bactrocera dorsalis是该类害虫的代表之一,每年对我国柑橘产业造成严重损失。以雄性引诱剂和蛋白饵剂为核心的诱杀技术已用于害虫监测和绿色防控,但是田间防控效果有待进一步提高。随着高通量测序技术成本的降低以及现代分子生物学技术的发展,科学家们提出先解析害虫化学感受的分子机制,鉴定关键的化学感受分子靶标,并以鉴定的新靶标设计和筛选更为稳定和高效引诱剂和食诱剂。为促进以关键化学感受分子为靶标的橘小实蝇行为调控技术的发展,本文综述了调控橘小实蝇行为的重要化学物质及其化学感受识别机制的研究现状。调控橘小实蝇行为的重要挥发物主要包括性信息素、植物挥发物和食物源蛋白气味。前两者中鉴定获得的特异性化合物质与橘小实蝇成虫的行为关系较为明确,例如性信息素中得到吡嗪类物质能够引诱雌虫,植物挥发物中的甲基丁香酚引诱雄虫,γ-辛内酯能够诱发雌虫产卵等;而后者食物源蛋白气味则由于成分复杂,在田间虽有一定效果,但缺乏特定化合物在雌雄虫具体行为中的功能验证。嗅觉感受机制中,外周神经感器与中枢触角叶仅有形态描述,不同类型嗅觉神经元的...     

昆虫气味结合蛋白的研究进展

摘要: 昆虫主要依赖其复杂且灵敏的化学感受系统来识别并区分外界环境中的各种化学信号。嗅觉是负责嗅觉信号传导的感官方式,能够引起昆虫觅食、产卵、交配和躲避天敌等对生存和繁殖至关重要的行为反应。在嗅觉感知过程中,气味结合蛋白(odorant binding proteins, OBPs)最先与外界脂溶性化学物质相互作用,并将其转运至化学受体神经元上,激活树突膜表面分布的嗅觉受体(olfactory receptors, ORs),是嗅觉系统正常运行的必需蛋白。近年来,随着高通量测序和分子生物学技术的快速发展,越来越多的昆虫OBPs相继得以鉴定并开展功能研究。昆虫OBPs是一类可溶性的小分子蛋白,一般由6个α-螺旋构成一个稳定、紧密的疏水性结合腔,其构象变化因昆虫种类和配体结构不同而有所差异。OBPs的分布不受限于嗅觉器官,还在口器、足、中肠、腺体等非嗅觉组织中表达,具有嗅觉识别、味觉感受、营养物质转运、信息素合成与释放、组织发育与分化等生理功能。OBPs行使以上功能的共同特性为结合和溶解包括信息素组分、普通气味分子和非挥发性物质等的疏水性小分子物质。昆虫OBPs的稳定性和多功能性暗示其可广泛应用于害虫防治、生物传感器、分析化学、生态学等多个领域。本文对过去20多年来昆虫OBPs的相关研究进行综述,为进一步深入开展OBPs的功能研究提供理论参考。     

Sex pheromones and olfactory proteins in Antheraea moths: A. pernyi and A. polyphemus (Lepidoptera: Saturniidae)

Olfaction is essential for regulating the physiological and behavioral actions of insects with specific recognition of various odors. Antheraea moths (Lepidoptera: Saturniidae) possess relatively large bodies and antennae so that they are good subjects for exploring molecular aspects of insect olfaction. Current knowledge of the molecular aspects of Antheraea olfaction is focused on the Chinese tussah silkmoth A. pernyi Guérin-Méneville and another species A. polyphemus (Cramer) in their pheromones, odorant-binding proteins (OBPs), odorant receptors (ORs), odorant receptor coreceptors (ORCOs), sensory neuron membrane proteins (SNMPs), and odorant-degrading enzymes (ODEs). The first insect OBP, SNMP, and ODE were identified from A. polyphemus. This review summarizes the principal findings associated with the olfactory physiology and its molecular components in the two Antheraea species. Three types of olfactory neurons may have specific ORs for three respective sex-pheromone components, with the functional sensitivity and specificity mediated by three respective OBPs. SNMPs and ODEs are likely to play important roles in sex-pheromone detection, inactivation, and degradation. Identification and functional analysis of the olfactory molecules remain to be further performed in A. pernyi, A. polyphemus, and other Antheraea species.     

Wake up and smell the pheromones

Odorant binding proteins (OBPs) are abundant proteins of unknown function expressed at high levels in insect and vertebrate chemosensory organs. In this issue of Neuron, Xu et al. show that Drosophila OBP76a is necessary for fruit flies to respond to the aggregation pheromone 11-cis vaccenyl acetate. The results suggest a mechanism by which this OBP is intimately involved in pheromone signal transduction.     

The fruit fly scourge: has Zimbabwe been spared?

We conducted a questionnaire survey to assess fruit growers’ knowledge and practices regarding fruit fly pests and a fruit fly trapping inspection to capture any fruit fly species present at 10 points of 23 wards of Marondera district. Most growers were not aware of the pest, although they had reported that fruits were rotting in orchards. Most growers therefore took no action against fruit flies on their farms. The trapping inspection confirmed that three fruit fly species, Bactrocera, Ceratitis, and Dacus, are already present in Zimbabwe in general and in Marondera district in particular and the Bactrocera species dominates. There is a need for government, through extension agents, and other stakeholders to compile and communicate accurate data on the presence and status of the fruit fly in addition to investing in the continuous monitoring of the pest.     

A subset of chemosensory genes differs between two populations of a specialized leaf beetle after host plant shift

Due to its fundamental role in shaping host selection behavior, we have analyzed the chemosensory repertoire of Chrysomela lapponica. This specialized leaf beetle evolved distinct populations which shifted from the ancestral host plant, willow (Salix sp., Salicaceae), to birch (Betula rotundifolia, Betulaceae). We identified 114 chemosensory candidate genes in adult C. lapponica: 41 olfactory receptors (ORs), eight gustatory receptors, 17 ionotropic receptors, four sensory neuron membrane proteins, 32 odorant binding proteins (OBPs), and 12 chemosensory proteins (CSP) by RNA‐seq. Differential expression analyses in the antennae revealed significant upregulation of one minus‐C OBP (ClapOBP27) and one CSP (ClapCSP12) in the willow feeders. In contrast, one OR (ClapOR17), four minus‐C OBPs (ClapOBP02, 07, 13, 20), and one plus‐C OBP (ClapOBP32) were significantly upregulated in birch feeders. The differential expression pattern in the legs was more complex. To narrow down putative ligands acting as cues for host discrimination, the relative abundance and diversity of volatiles of the two host plant species were analyzed. In addition to salicylaldehyde (willow‐specific), both plant species differed mainly in their emission rate of terpenoids such as (E,E)‐α‐farnesene (high in willow) or 4,8‐dimethylnona‐1,3,7‐triene (high in birch). Qualitatively, the volatiles were similar between willow and birch leaves constituting an “olfactory bridge” for the beetles. Subsequent structural modeling of the three most differentially expressed OBPs and docking studies using 22 host volatiles indicated that ligands bind with varying affinity. We suggest that the evolution of particularly minus‐C OBPs and ORs in C. lapponica facilitated its host plant shift via chemosensation of the phytochemicals from birch as novel host plant.     

Le rôle des protéines liant les odeurs (OBP) dans la transduction olfactive

This paper reviews biochemical and functional properties of a family of proteins involved in the transduction process of chemical signals. Odorant-binding proteins (OBPs) are small soluble proteins highly concentrated in the chemosensory organs of Insects and Vertebrates. They are preferentially expressed in the nasal mucus of Vertebrates and in the sensillar lymph of Insects. They have been found to bind reversibly small hydrophobic molecules detected via the olfactory system. The vertebrate OBPs bind non-specific odorants with low affinities. They belong to the lipocalin family as well as other proteins involved in chemical communication and associated to different organs and functions. Nevertheless, no specific ligand for OBPs has been yet identified in Vertebrates. However, the large microdiversity of OBPs in the same animal suggests that OBPs could be involved in the discrimination of odors. Chemical communication in Noctuid moths was used as a model to study the molecular mechanisms of odor recognition. The pheromonal system is extremely sensitive and specific since the male is able to detect only few molecules of the pheromone and to recognize specific blends of the same molecules. The chemical signals were identified for a large number of Lepidopteran species and the associated behaviours they elicit were fully characterized. The Lepidopteran OBPs are divided into two sub-classes according to their ligands: pheromone-binding proteins (PBP) are expressed in sensilla trichodea responding to pheromonal compounds while general odorant binding proteins (GOBP) are associated with sensilla basiconica tuned to the detection of general odors, such as plant volatiles. The PBPs selectively bind components of the female sex-pheromone with measurable affinities. The ligand binding site was localized in the 40–60 aminoacids region. Substitutions in the binding site of different proteins are correlated with the fixation of different ligands, leading to the hypothesis that the primary structure encodes the ligand specificity. Other proteins expressed in chemosensory organs of other orders of Insects were cloned or purified. In absence of functional data, they were called OBP-like. Some of them were localized in the gustatory organs and could be common carriers of odors in both olfactory and gustatory systems. Many arguments are in accordance with an active role of the OBPs in the early steps of odor discrimination. The heterogeneity of OBPs inside species and between species, the spatial segregation in their expression and the different binding affinities of PBPs towards pheromonal compounds support the hypothesis that the coding of odors is realized as soon as the level of OBPs. More, the complex OBP/odor could be the stimulus for olfactory receptors cloned in Vertebrates and still putative in Insects. This hypothesis suggests that OBPs take part as an essential element of the chemosensory transduction.     

Chemical sensing in Drosophila

Chemical sensing begins when peripheral receptor proteins recognise specific environmental stimuli and translate them into spatial and temporal patterns of sensory neuron activity. The chemosensory system of the fruit fly, Drosophila melanogaster, has become a dominant model to understand this process, through its accessibility to a powerful combination of molecular, genetic and electrophysiological analysis. Recent results have revealed many surprises in the biology of peripheral chemosensation in Drosophila, including novel structural and signalling properties of the insect odorant receptors (ORs), combinatorial mechanisms of chemical recognition by the gustatory receptors (GRs), and the implication of Transient Receptor Potential (TRP) ion channels as a novel class of chemosensory receptors.     

Molecular evolution of tephritid fruit flies in the genus Bactrocera based on the cytochrome oxidase I gene

Fruit flies of the genus Bactrocera (Diptera: Tephritidae) are one of the major economically important insects in Asia and Australia. Little attention has been given to analyses of molecular phylogenetic relationships among Bactrocera subgenera. By using mitochondrial cytochrome oxidase I gene (COI) sequences, the phylogenetic relationships among four subgenera, Asiadacus, Bactrocera, Hemigymnodacus, and Zeugodacus, were investigated. Nucleotide diversity within subgenera ranged from 11.7 to 12.4%, and the net divergence among subgenera ranged from 11.2 to 15.7%. Phylogenetic trees calculated from both maximum parsimony and neighbor-joining phylogenetic analysis methods were highly congruent in terms of tree topologies. Phylogenetic analysis of mitochondrial COI sequences suggests that tephritid fruit fly species, which attack cucurbit plants, that is, Asiadacus, Hemigymnodacus and Zeugodacus, were more closely related to each other than to fruit fly species of the subgenus Bactrocera, which attack plants of numerous families. Our data supports previous classification of Bactrocera based on morphological characters. However, the phylogenetic tree showed the polyphyletic of fruit flies in subgenus Zeugodacus. Possible causes of speciation among fruit flies species in this genus were also discussed.