A novel lineage of candidate pheromone receptors for sex communication in moths

Bastin-Heline, L.; de Fouchier, A.; Cao, S.; Koutroumpa, F.; Caballero-Vidal, G.; Robakiewicz, S.; Monsempes, C.; Francois, M.-C.; Ribeyre, T.; de Cian, A.; Walker, W. B.; Wang, G.; Jacquin-Joly, E.; Montagne, N.

doi:10.1101/707174

bioRxiv · 10.1101/707174

A novel lineage of candidate pheromone receptors for sex communication in moths

Bastin-Heline, L.·de Fouchier, A.·Cao, S.·Koutroumpa, F.·Caballero-Vidal, G.·Robakiewicz, S.·Monsempes, C.·Francois, M.-C.·Ribeyre, T.·de Cian, A.·Walker, W. B.·Wang, G.·Jacquin-Joly, E.·Montagne, N.

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Abstract

Sex pheromone receptors (PRs) are key players in chemical communication between mating partners in insects. In the highly diversified insect order Lepidoptera, male PRs tuned to female-emitted type I pheromones (which make up the vast majority of pheromones identified) form a dedicated subfamily of odorant receptors (ORs). Here, using a combination of heterologous expression and in vivo genome editing methods, we bring functional evidence that at least one moth PR does not belong to this subfamily but to a distantly related OR lineage. This PR, identified in the cotton leafworm Spodoptera littoralis, is over-expressed in male antennae and is specifically tuned to the major sex pheromone component emitted by females. Together with a comprehensive phylogenetic analysis of moth ORs, our functional data suggest two independent apparitions of PRs tuned to type I pheromones in Lepidoptera, opening up a new path for studying the evolution of moth pheromone communication.

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Bastin-Heline, L., de Fouchier, A., Cao, S., Koutroumpa, F., Caballero-Vidal, G., Robakiewicz, S., Monsempes, C., Francois, M.-C., Ribeyre, T., de Cian, A., Walker, W. B., Wang, G., Jacquin-Joly, E., Montagne, N.. 2019-07-20. A novel lineage of candidate pheromone receptors for sex communication in moths. https://doi.org/10.1101/707174

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