Department of Entomology, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Urbana, IL 61801, USA.
Insect Biochem Mol Biol. 2012 Jul;42(7):499-505. doi: 10.1016/j.ibmb.2012.03.007. Epub 2012 Apr 5.
Odorant receptors (Ors) are a unique family of ligand-gated ion channels and the primary mechanism by which insects detect volatile chemicals. Here, we describe 57 putative Ors sequenced from an antennal transcriptome of the cerambycid beetle Megacyllene caryae (Gahan). The male beetles produce a pheromone blend of nine compovnents, and we functionally characterized Ors tuned to three of these chemicals: receptor McOr3 is sensitive to (S)-2-methyl-1-butanol; McOr20 is sensitive to (2S,3R)-2,3-hexanediol; and McOr5 is sensitive to 2-phenylethanol. McOr3 and McOr20 are also sensitive to structurally-related chemicals that are pheromones of other cerambycid beetles, suggesting that orthologous receptors may be present across many cerambycid species. These Ors are the first to be functionally characterized from any species of beetle and lay the groundwork for understanding the evolution of pheromones within the Cerambycidae.
气味受体（Ors）是一类独特的配体门控离子通道，是昆虫检测挥发性化学物质的主要机制。在这里，我们描述了从鳞翅目象甲科（Gahan）的触角转录组中测序得到的 57 个假定的 Ors。雄性甲虫产生了由九种成分组成的信息素混合物，我们对三种化学物质的 Ors 进行了功能表征：受体 McOr3 对（S）-2-甲基-1-丁醇敏感；McOr20 对（2S，3R）-2,3-己二醇敏感；而 McOr5 对 2-苯乙醇敏感。McOr3 和 McOr20 也对结构上相关的化学物质敏感，这些化学物质是其他象甲科甲虫的信息素，这表明同源受体可能存在于许多象甲科物种中。这些 Ors 是首次从任何一种甲虫物种中进行功能表征的，为了解鳞翅目昆虫的信息素进化奠定了基础。
