Characterisations of odorant-binding proteins in the tsetse fly Glossina morsitans morsitans

Abstract

Odorant-binding proteins (OBPs) play an important role in insect olfaction by mediating interactions between odorants and odorant receptors. We report for the first time 20 OBP genes in the tsetse fly Glossina morsitans morsitans. qRT-PCR revealed that 8 of these genes were highly transcribed in the antennae. The transcription of these genes in the antennae was significantly lower in males than in females and there was a clear correlation between OBP gene transcription and feeding status. Starvation over 72 h post-blood meal (PBM) did not significantly affect the transcription. However, the transcription in the antennae of 10-week-old flies was much higher than in 3-day-old flies at 48 h PBM and decreased sharply after 72 h starvation, suggesting that the OBP gene expression is affected by the insect’s nutritional status. Sequence comparisons with OBPs of other Dipterans identified several homologs to sex pheromone-binding proteins and OBPs of Drosophila melanogaster.Electronic supplementary materialThe online version of this article (doi:10.1007/s00018-009-0221-1) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorised users.

Drosophila Distal-less and Rotund Bind a Single Enhancer Ensuring Reliable and Robust bric-a-brac2 Expression in Distinct Limb Morphogenetic Fields

“…As (i) the duplicated bab genes are merely co-expressed during leg and antennal development [17], (ii) we have shown a critical role of the LAE in ensuring bab2 expression (this study) and (iii) no other limb-specific cis -regulatory regions could be identified within the 150-kb bab locus [27], we thus infer that the LAE is likely to reliably govern bab1 expression as well. Consistent with our assumption that strong functional constraints have operated during evolution, a LAE-like sequence with partially conserved CR1-2 sequences is even present between paralogous bab1 and bab2 genes of the tsetse fly Glossina morsitans (Figure S5A and not shown), which diverged from Drosophilidae about 260 million years ago [47]. Furthermore, we have shown that the LAE from D. virilis ensures normal regulatory functions in D. melanogaster .…”

Symbiont-induced odorant binding proteins mediate insect host hematopoiesis

“…Because chemosensory-related genes exhibit hematopoietic properties and immune system-associated expression profiles in other insects (Thomas et al, 2016; Shim et al, 2013a; Aguilar et al, 2005; Bartholomay et al, 2004; Sabatier et al, 2003), we investigated the functional relationship between obp6 and immune system maturation processes during tsetse larvagenesis. Obp6 , which encodes a 145 amino acid protein (16kD) with an N-terminal secretion signal (Liu et al, 2010), is larvae-enriched (Figure 1D) and the only OBP-encoding gene expressed at significantly different levels between Gmm WT and Gmm Apo individuals (Figure 1E; Supplementary file 1). Obp6 expression can be restored in Gmm Apo larvae when their symbiont-cured moms are fed a diet supplemented specifically with Wigglesworthia cell extracts (Figure 1F), thus demonstrating that expression of this gene is stimulated by a Wigglesworthia derived molecule(s).…”

Cloning and expression profiling of odorant‐binding proteins in the tarnished plant bug, Lygus lineolaris

“…Aside from the Cys spacing, OBPs are poorly conserved across species and have no homology with vertebrate OBPs (Zhou, ). Consequently, the identification and annotation of putative insect OBPs has relied extensively on the characteristic Cys signature (Zhou et al ., , , ; Li et al ., ; Forêt & Maleszka, ; Jordan et al ., ; Gong et al ., ; Liu et al ., ; Xu et al ., , ; Gotzek et al ., ; Gu et al ., 2011a; Mitaka et al ., ). OBPs have been identified from more than 40 insect species representing 10 different orders with many of the transcripts predominantly expressed in olfactory tissues (Zhou, ).…”