Yan W, Liu L, Qin W Q, Li C X, Peng Z Q
Key Laboratory for Silviculture and Conservation of Ministry of Education, Beijing Forestry University, Beijing, China.
Coconut Research Institute, Chinese Academy of Tropical Agricultural Sciences, Hainan, China.
Genet Mol Res. 2015 Jul 6;14(3):7469-80. doi: 10.4238/2015.July.3.23.
Olfaction is crucial for insects' survival because it enables them to recognize various environmental information. It is primarily mediated by a large family of chemoreceptors, including olfactory receptors (ORs), gustatory receptors (GRs), and ionotropic receptors (IRs). Here, we assembled the transcriptome of the economically important pest of palms, Rhynchophorus ferrugineus, to reveal its chemoreceptor gene repertoire. About 8.08 Gbp data were generated using a HiSeq platform and their assembly led to a total of 24,439 unigenes. Among the transcripts, 12,523 (51.24%) showed significant similarity (E-value <10(-5)) to known proteins in the National Center for Biotechnology Information Nr database. From these sequences, 18 candidate genes of ORs were identified. Nine putative transcripts were homologous to GR genes, while 9 were similar to IR genes. The expression profiles of all identified chemoreceptor genes were determined by quantitative real-time PCR in antenna, head, thorax, abdomen, and legs of both sexes. Most chemoreceptor genes were antenna-enriched. This study demonstrated a successful application of a transcriptome for discovering a large number of divergent chemoreceptor genes of a non-model organism. The findings provide a valuable sequence resource and gene tissue distribution information for systematic functional analysis of molecular mechanisms underlying chemoreception in this pest.
嗅觉对昆虫的生存至关重要，因为它使昆虫能够识别各种环境信息。嗅觉主要由一大类化学感受器介导，包括嗅觉受体（ORs）、味觉受体（GRs）和离子otropic受体（IRs）。在这里，我们组装了棕榈树重要经济害虫红棕象甲的转录组，以揭示其化学感受器基因库。使用HiSeq平台生成了约8.08 Gbp的数据，其组装产生了总共24,439个单基因。在这些转录本中，12,523个（51.24%）与美国国立生物技术信息中心Nr数据库中的已知蛋白质具有显著相似性（E值<10(-5)）。从这些序列中，鉴定出18个ORs候选基因。9个推定转录本与GR基因同源，而9个与IR基因相似。通过定量实时PCR测定了所有鉴定的化学感受器基因在雌雄两性的触角、头部、胸部、腹部和腿部的表达谱。大多数化学感受器基因在触角中富集。这项研究证明了转录组在发现非模式生物大量不同化学感受器基因方面的成功应用。这些发现为该害虫化学感受分子机制的系统功能分析提供了有价值的序列资源和基因组织分布信息。
