Cooke Matthew, Chembars Michael S, Pitts Ronald Jason
Department of Biology, Baylor University, Laboratory of Arthropod Sensory Biology & Neuroethology, Waco, TX, USA.
J Insect Sci. 2025 Jan 20;25(1). doi: 10.1093/jisesa/ieaf012.
Insects perceive and respond to carboxylic acids (CAs), amines, and aldehydes primarily via conserved ionotropic receptors (IRs). These receptors form the basis for a second olfactory system distinct from the well-characterized odorant receptors. Neurons expressing IRs are housed in dedicated sensilla and innervate glomeruli, separate from those innervated by odorant receptor neurons. The IR8a co-receptor is highly conserved across insect orders and, together with ionotropic receptor tuning receptors, primarily detects CAs. The conservation of genes and the anatomical separation of neural pathways underscore the importance of these compound classes and CAs, specifically in insect chemical ecology. We provide a summary of carboxylic acid detection in insects, focusing on dipteran and lepidopteran species of significance to public health and agriculture. An overview of insect behavior toward CAs is provided, as well as a comprehensive update on carboxylic acid receptor function in insects. Phylogenetic analysis of publicly available genome databases reveals several species that encode and express homologs of previously deorphanized carboxylic acid receptors, highlighting avenues for future research.
昆虫主要通过保守的离子型受体（IRs）来感知和响应羧酸（CAs）、胺类和醛类。这些受体构成了一个不同于已充分表征的气味受体的第二嗅觉系统的基础。表达IRs的神经元位于专门的感器中，并支配肾小球，这与气味受体神经元支配的肾小球是分开的。IR8a共受体在昆虫各目中高度保守，并且与离子型受体调谐受体一起，主要检测羧酸。基因的保守性以及神经通路的解剖学分离突出了这些化合物类别尤其是羧酸在昆虫化学生态学中的重要性。我们总结了昆虫对羧酸的检测，重点关注对公共卫生和农业具有重要意义的双翅目和鳞翅目物种。提供了昆虫对羧酸行为的概述，以及昆虫羧酸受体功能的全面更新。对公开可用的基因组数据库进行系统发育分析，揭示了几个编码和表达先前已解孤儿化的羧酸受体同源物的物种，突出了未来的研究途径。
