Shorter John R, Dembeck Lauren M, Everett Logan J, Morozova Tatiana V, Arya Gunjan H, Turlapati Lavanya, St Armour Genevieve E, Schal Coby, Mackay Trudy F C, Anholt Robert R H
Department of Biological Sciences, Program in Genetics and W. M. Keck Center for Behavioral Biology, North Carolina State University, Raleigh, North Carolina 27695.
Department of Entomology and Plant Pathology, Program in Genetics and W. M. Keck Center for Behavioral Biology, North Carolina State University, Raleigh, North Carolina 27695.
G3 (Bethesda). 2016 Oct 13;6(10):3335-3342. doi: 10.1534/g3.116.034595.
Social interactions in insects are driven by conspecific chemical signals that are detected via olfactory and gustatory neurons. Odorant binding proteins (Obps) transport volatile odorants to chemosensory receptors, but their effects on behaviors remain poorly characterized. Here, we report that RNAi knockdown of Obp56h gene expression in Drosophila melanogaster enhances mating behavior by reducing courtship latency. The change in mating behavior that results from inhibition of Obp56h expression is accompanied by significant alterations in cuticular hydrocarbon (CHC) composition, including reduction in 5-tricosene (5-T), an inhibitory sex pheromone produced by males that increases copulation latency during courtship. Whole genome RNA sequencing confirms that expression of Obp56h is virtually abolished in Drosophila heads. Inhibition of Obp56h expression also affects expression of other chemoreception genes, including upregulation of lush in both sexes and Obp83ef in females, and reduction in expression of Obp19b and Or19b in males. In addition, several genes associated with lipid metabolism, which underlies the production of cuticular hydrocarbons, show altered transcript abundances. Our data show that modulation of mating behavior through reduction of Obp56h is accompanied by altered cuticular hydrocarbon profiles and implicate 5-T as a possible ligand for Obp56h.
昆虫的社会互动由通过嗅觉和味觉神经元检测到的同种化学信号驱动。气味结合蛋白（Obps）将挥发性气味物质转运到化学感应受体，但它们对行为的影响仍未得到充分表征。在这里，我们报告说，果蝇中Obp56h基因表达的RNA干扰敲低通过减少求偶潜伏期来增强交配行为。抑制Obp56h表达导致的交配行为变化伴随着表皮碳氢化合物（CHC）组成的显著改变，包括5-二十三碳烯（5-T）的减少，5-T是雄性产生的一种抑制性性信息素，在求偶过程中会增加交配潜伏期。全基因组RNA测序证实，果蝇头部Obp56h的表达几乎被消除。抑制Obp56h表达还会影响其他化学感受基因的表达，包括两性中lush的上调和雌性中Obp83ef的上调，以及雄性中Obp19b和Or19b表达的减少。此外，几个与表皮碳氢化合物产生基础的脂质代谢相关的基因显示出转录本丰度的改变。我们的数据表明，通过减少Obp56h来调节交配行为伴随着表皮碳氢化合物谱的改变，并暗示5-T可能是Obp56h的配体。
