Identification and expression pattern of chemosensory genes in the transcriptome of Propsilocerus akamusi

Abstract

Chironomidae is the most ecologically diverse insects in aquatic and semi-aquatic habitats. Propsilocerus akamusi (Tokunaga) is a dominant and ubiquitous chironomid species in Eastern Asia and its morphologically unique larvae are also considered as indicator organisms to detect water contamination, potential toxicity and waterborne pathogens. Since few studies to date have focused on the olfactory system of P. akamusi, our study aims to elucidate the potential functions of chemosensory genes in P. akamusi. In our study, we found that although signals released from male groups might attract female swarmers, it was a completely male-dominated mating process. Sequencing the transcriptome of P. akamusi on an Illumina HiSeq platform generated 4.42, 4.46 and 4.53 Gb of clean reads for heads, legs, and antennae, respectively. 27,609 unigenes, 20,379 coding sequences (CDSs), and 8,073 simple sequence repeats were finally obtained. The gene-level differential expression analysis demonstrated variants among three different tissues, including 2,019 genes specifically expressed in heads, 1,540 genes in legs, and 2,071 genes in antennae. Additionally, we identified an assortment of putative olfactory genes consisting of 34 odorant binding proteins, 17 odorant receptors, 32 gustatory receptors, 22 ionotropic receptors, six chemosensory proteins as well as 3 sensory neuron membrane proteins; their relative abundances in the above three tissues were also determined by RT-qPCR. Our finding could allow a more plausible understanding of certain olfaction-mediated behaviors in groups of this macroinvertebrate.

Identification of candidate chemosensory genes by antennal transcriptome analysis in an ectoparasitoid wasp

“…kuwanae was less than that in N . vitripennis (301; Robertson et al., 2010) and Trissolcus basalis (171; Chen et al., 2021), but more than that in Propsilocerus akamusi (17; Yan et al., 2020). There is a huge variation in the number of OR genes between different species, probably due to the different reference databases, such as the transcriptome or genome.…”

“…confusum (19; Li et al., 2021) and P . akamusi (22; Yan et al., 2020). As an ancient chemoreceptor family, insect IRs can be categorized into several conserved sub‐families.…”

Insights Into Chemosensory Proteins From Non-Model Insects: Advances and Perspectives in the Context of Pest Management

“…Nowadays, it is known that Orco and ORs are a functional heteromeric complex as odorant-sensing cation channels, which ultimately provide the rapid odorant signaling of insects, which is transient, sensitive and prolonged in nature ( Neuhaus et al, 2004 ; Wicher et al, 2008 ). For comprehensive reviews around insect ORs, we recommend Yan et al (2020) and Wicher and Miazzi (2021) .…”

A chromosome level genome assembly of Propsilocerus akamusi to understand its response to heavy metal exposure

“…Therefore, a better understanding of the chemosensory system could enable investigators to seek feasible strategies for pest management. A previous study has provided plenty of putative chemosensory protein genes in the P. akamusi transcriptome and demonstrated variants among the head, legs, and antennae (Yan et al, 2020). To date, we obtained the chromosome-level genomic resources of this species and can obtain the chemosensory genes completely in number and length.…”