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. 2012;7(10):e48260.
doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0048260. Epub 2012 Oct 26.

Candidate olfaction genes identified within the Helicoverpa armigera Antennal Transcriptome

Yang Liu  1 , Shaohua Gu, Yongjun Zhang, Yuyuan Guo, Guirong Wang
Affiliations

Candidate olfaction genes identified within the Helicoverpa armigera Antennal Transcriptome

Yang Liu et al. PLoS One. 2012.

Abstract

Antennal olfaction is extremely important for insect survival, mediating key behaviors such as host preference, mate choice, and oviposition site selection. Multiple antennal proteins are involved in olfactory signal transduction pathways. Of these, odorant receptors (ORs) and ionotropic receptors (IRs) confer specificity on olfactory sensory neuron responses. In this study, we identified the olfactory gene repertoire of the economically important agricultural pest moth, Helicoverpa armigera, by assembling the adult male and female antennal transcriptomes. Within the male and female antennal transcriptomes we identified a total of 47 OR candidate genes containing 6 pheromone receptor candidates. Additionally, 12 IR genes as well as 26 odorant-binding proteins and 12 chemosensory proteins were annotated. Our results allow a systematic functional analysis across much of conventional ORs repertoire and newly reported IRs mediating the key olfaction-mediated behaviors of H. armigera.

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Conflict of interest statement

Competing Interests: The authors have declared that no competing interests exist.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1. Distribution and comparison of male and female H. armigera unigenes annotated at GO level 2.
The Y-axis shows the percentage of the sequences. The X-axis shows three areas of annotation, and in each area the sequences are further divided into subgroups at GO level 2.
Figure 2
Figure 2. Phylogenetic tree of candidate ORs from lepidopterans including PR (red) and ORCO (Blue) clades.
Harm: H. armigera, Hvir: H. virescens , Bmor: B. mori. The H. armigera unigenes are shown in bold and the letter-unigene in the unigene reference was abbreviated as U.
Figure 3
Figure 3. Phylogenetic tree of candidate IRs from insects.
Slit: S. littoralis, Bmor: B. mori, Dmel: D. melanogaster, the H. armigera unigenes are shown in bold and the letter-unigene in the unigene reference was abbreviated as U.
Figure 4
Figure 4. Phylogenetic tree of candidate odorant binding protein from lepidopterans including PBP (red), GOBP (Blue) and other OBP.
Harm: H. armigera, Hvir: H. virescens, Bmor: B. mori, Dple: D. plexippus, the H. armigera unigenes are shown in bold and the letter-unigene in the unigene reference was abbreviated as U.
Figure 5
Figure 5. Phylogenetic tree of candidate o chemosensory protein from lepidopterans.
Harm: H. armigera, Hvir: H. virescens , Bmor: B. mori, Se: S. exigua, the H. armigera unigenes are shown in bold and the letter-unigene in the unigene reference was abbreviated as U.
Figure 6
Figure 6. Tissue- and sex- specific expressions of candidates H. armigera ORs, GRs and IRs genes.
M: male antennae, F: female antennae, L: legs.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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