A conserved odorant receptor tuned to phenylacetaldehyde in Athetis lepigone

Abstract

Insects carry out various behaviors, including searching for food, mates, and oviposition sites using their sensitive olfactory systems. Odorant receptors (ORs) play critical roles during odor detection. In this study, we identified an OR (AlepOR14) in Athetis lepigone, which is clustered with a conserved HarmOR42‐lineage in Lepidoptera. We cloned this OR gene and investigated its expression levels using real‐time quantitative PCR. Our results indicated that the expression of AlepOR14 is biased toward antennae, with levels significantly higher in female antennae than in male antennae. Functional analysis using the Xenopus oocytes expression and voltage‐clamp recording system demonstrated that AlepOR14 robustly and sensitively responds to the critical floral scent volatile phenylacetaldehyde (PAA). In behavioral experiments, female adults are attracted by PAA. Our findings improve our general understanding of the relationship between moths and their host plants, and provide an idea for exploiting attractants of A. lepigone for biological control.