| Title: | Mutually Exclusive Expression of Closely Related Odorant-Binding Proteins 9A and 9B in the Antenna of the Red Flour Beetle Tribolium castaneum |
| Author(s): | Montino A; Balakrishnan K; Dippel S; Trebels B; Neumann P; Wimmer EA; |
| Address: | "GZMB, Department of Developmental Biology, Johann-Friedrich-Blumenbach-Institute for Zoology and Anthropology, Ernst-Caspari-Haus, Georg-August-University Goettingen, Justus-von-Liebig-Weg 11, 37077 Goettingen, Germany. Goettingen Graduate Center for Neurosciences, Biophysics, and Molecular Biosciences, Georg-August University School of Science, University of Goettingen, 37077 Goettingen, Germany. Department of Forest Zoology and Forest Conservation, Buesgen-Institute, Georg-August-University Goettingen, Buesgenweg 3, 37077 Goettingen, Germany. Department of Biology-Animal Physiology, Philipps-University Marburg, Karl-von-Frisch-Str. 8, 35032 Marburg, Germany. GZMB, Department of Molecular Structural Biology, Institute of Microbiology & Genetics, Ernst-Caspari-Haus, Georg-August-University Goettingen, Justus-von-Liebig-Weg 11, 37077 Goettingen, Germany" |
| ISSN/ISBN: | 2218-273X (Electronic) 2218-273X (Linking) |
| Abstract: | "Olfaction is crucial for insects to find food sources, mates, and oviposition sites. One of the initial steps in olfaction is facilitated by odorant-binding proteins (OBPs) that translocate hydrophobic odorants through the aqueous olfactory sensilla lymph to the odorant receptor complexes embedded in the dendritic membrane of olfactory sensory neurons. The Tribolium castaneum (Coleoptera, Tenebrionidae) OBPs encoded by the gene pair TcasOBP9A and TcasOBP9B represent the closest homologs to the well-studied Drosophila melanogaster OBP Lush (DmelOBP76a), which mediates pheromone reception. By an electroantennographic analysis, we can show that these two OBPs are not pheromone-specific but rather enhance the detection of a broad spectrum of organic volatiles. Both OBPs are expressed in the antenna but in a mutually exclusive pattern, despite their homology and gene pair character by chromosomal location. A phylogenetic analysis indicates that this gene pair arose at the base of the Cucujiformia, which dates the gene duplication event to about 200 Mio years ago. Therefore, this gene pair is not the result of a recent gene duplication event and the high sequence conservation in spite of their expression in different sensilla is potentially the result of a common function as co-OBPs" |
| Keywords: | "Amino Acid Sequence/genetics Animals Arthropod Antennae/*metabolism Chromosomes/genetics Drosophila melanogaster/genetics Gene Expression Regulation/genetics Odorants/analysis Receptors, Odorant/*genetics/metabolism Tribolium/*metabolism/physiology Coleop;neuroscience;" |
| Notes: | "MedlineMontino, Alice Balakrishnan, Karthi Dippel, Stefan Trebels, Bjorn Neumann, Piotr Wimmer, Ernst A eng Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't Switzerland 2021/10/24 Biomolecules. 2021 Oct 12; 11(10):1502. doi: 10.3390/biom11101502" |
