RT Journal Article
SR Electronic
T1 A novel lineage of candidate pheromone receptors for sex communication in moths
JF bioRxiv
FD Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory
SP 707174
DO 10.1101/707174
A1 Bastin-Héline, Lucie
A1 Fouchier, Arthur de
A1 Cao, Song
A1 Koutroumpa, Fotini
A1 Caballero-Vidal, Gabriela
A1 Robakiewicz, Stefania
A1 Monsempes, Christelle
A1 François, Marie-Christine
A1 Ribeyre, Tatiana
A1 Cian, Anne de
A1 Walker, William B.
A1 Wang, Guirong
A1 Jacquin-Joly, Emmanuelle
A1 Montagné, Nicolas
YR 2019
UL http://biorxiv.org/content/early/2019/07/20/707174.abstract
AB Sex pheromone receptors (PRs) are key players in chemical communication between mating partners in insects. In the highly diversified insect order Lepidoptera, male PRs tuned to female-emitted type I pheromones (which make up the vast majority of pheromones identified) form a dedicated subfamily of odorant receptors (ORs). Here, using a combination of heterologous expression and in vivo genome editing methods, we bring functional evidence that at least one moth PR does not belong to this subfamily but to a distantly related OR lineage. This PR, identified in the cotton leafworm Spodoptera littoralis, is over-expressed in male antennae and is specifically tuned to the major sex pheromone component emitted by females. Together with a comprehensive phylogenetic analysis of moth ORs, our functional data suggest two independent apparitions of PRs tuned to type I pheromones in Lepidoptera, opening up a new path for studying the evolution of moth pheromone communication.