Files and links (2)
Ionotropic receptors in the turnip moth Agrotis segetum respond to repellent medium-chain fatty acids19.59 MB
Preprint VersionCC BY-NC-ND V4.0, Open Access
Preprint
Ionotropic receptors in the turnip moth Agrotis segetum respond to repellent medium-chain fatty acids
bioRxiv, Vol.27 February 2021
Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory Press
2021
Abstract
In insects, airborne chemical signals are mainly detected by two receptor families, odorant receptors (ORs) and ionotropic receptors (IRs). Functions of ORs have been intensively investigated in Diptera and Lepidoptera, while the functions and evolution of the more ancient IR family remain largely unexplored beyond Diptera. Here, we identified a repertoire of 26 IRs from transcriptomes of female and male antennae, and ovipositors in the moth Agrotis segetum. We observed that a large clade formed by IR75p and IR75q expansions is closely related to the acid-sensing IRs identified in Diptera. We functionally assayed each of the five AsegIRs from this clade using Xenopus oocytes and found that two receptors responded to the tested ligands. AsegIR75p.1 responded to several compounds but hexanoic acid was revealed to be the primary ligand, and AsegIR75q.2 responded primarily to octanoic acid, and less so to nonanoic acid. It has been reported that the C6-C10 medium-chain fatty acids repel various insects including many drosophilids and mosquitos. Our GC-EAD recordings showed that C6-C10 medium-chain fatty acids elicited antennal responses of both sexes of A. segetum, while only octanoic acid had repellent effect to the moths in a behavioural assay. In addition, using fluorescence in situ hybridization, we demonstrated that AsegIR75q.2 and its co-receptor AsegIR8a are not located in coeloconic sensilla as found in Drosophila, but in basiconic or trichoid sensilla. These functional data in combination with our phylogenetic analysis suggest that subfunctionalization of the acid-sensing IRs after gene duplication plays an important role in the evolution of ligand specificities of the acid-sensing IRs in Lepidoptera.
Details
- Title
- Ionotropic receptors in the turnip moth Agrotis segetum respond to repellent medium-chain fatty acids
- Authors
- Xiao-Qing Hou (Author) - Lund UniversityDan-Dan Zhang (Author) - Lund UniversityDaniel Powell (Author) - University of the Sunshine Coast, Queensland, School of Science and Engineering - LegacyHong-Lei Wang (Author) - Lund UniversityMartin N Andersson (Author) - Lund UniversityChrister Löfstedt (Author) - Lund University
- Publication details
- bioRxiv, Vol.27 February 2021
- Publisher
- Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory Press
- Date published
- 2021
- DOI
- 10.1101/2021.02.25.432965
- ISSN
- 2692-8205
- Copyright note
- The copyright holder for this preprint is the author/funder, who has granted bioRxiv a license to display the preprint in perpetuity. It is made available under a CC-BY-NC-ND 4.0 International license.
- Organisation Unit
- School of Science and Engineering - Legacy; University of the Sunshine Coast, Queensland; Office of Research; School of Science, Technology and Engineering; Centre for Bioinnovation
- Language
- English
- Record Identifier
- 99510404302621
- Output Type
- Preprint
Metrics
13 File views/ downloads
65 Record Views