Mechanisms of Olfaction in Insects - ResearchSpace@Auckland ...

General Introduction 16
Ten ORs have been identified by degenerate PCR of male moth antennae from eight
different Ostrinia species. The B.mori homologues of BmOR1 and BmOR2 have been
identified from O. scapulalis and O. latipennis, while only the BmOR1 homologue
has been identified in O. furnacalis, O. palustralis, O. zaguliaevi, O. zealis, O.
ovalipennis and O. nubilalis. A further five ORs (BmOR2 homologue and four more
candidate PRs named OnOr3–6) have been identified from a male antennae EST
library of O. nubilalis, bringing the total number of Ostrinia ORs identified to date to
15 (Wanner et al., 2010). Functional analysis of O. scapulalis OR1 (OscaOR1) and O.
latipennis OR1 (OlatOR1) in X. laevis oocytes revealed them to bind (E)-11-
tetradecenol, a sex pheromone component of O. latipennis (Miura et al., 2009). O.
nubulalis OR6 binds Z11-tetradecenyl acetate, a sex pheromone component of
Ostrinia species, while OnOr1, 3 and 5 bind four sex pheromonal components (Z11-
and E11- tetradecenyl acetate, and Z12- and E12- tetradecenyl acetate) and the
behavioural antagonist Z9-tetradecenyl acetate of Ostrinia species (Wanner et al.,
2010).
In the giant silkmoth, A. polyphemus, a candidate PR (ApolOR1) has been identified
from the screening of a cDNA library (Forstner et al., 2009). ApolOR1 is male
antennae specific in its expression and found only in sensilla trichodea. Functional
characterisation showed that it bound the pheromone components of A. polyphemus,
(E,Z)-6,11-hexadecadienyl acetate, (E,Z)-6,11-hexadecadienal and (E,Z)-4,9-
tetradecadienyl acetate (Meng et al., 1989; Forstner et al., 2009). A summary of the
moth PRs and the sex pheromone component each binds is given in Table 1.1.