| Title: | Conserved chemosensory proteins in the proboscis and eyes of Lepidoptera |
| Author(s): | Zhu J; Iovinella I; Dani FR; Liu YL; Huang LQ; Liu Y; Wang CZ; Pelosi P; Wang G; |
| Address: | "State Key Laboratory for Biology of Plant Diseases and Insect Pests, Institute of Plant Protection, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Beijing 100193, China. State Key Laboratory of Integrated Management of Pest Insects and Rodents, Institute of Zoology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100101, P.R. China; Dipartimento di Biologia, Universita degli Studi di Firenze, 50019 Sesto Fiorentino (Firenze), Italy. Dipartimento di Biologia, Universita degli Studi di Firenze, 50019 Sesto Fiorentino (Firenze), Italy. State Key Laboratory of Integrated Management of Pest Insects and Rodents, Institute of Zoology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100101, P.R. China" |
| ISSN/ISBN: | 1449-2288 (Electronic) 1449-2288 (Linking) |
| Abstract: | "Odorant-binding proteins (OBPs) and chemosensory proteins (CSPs) are endowed with several different functions besides being carriers for pheromones and odorants. Based on a previous report of a CSP acting as surfactant in the proboscis of the moth Helicoverpa armigera, we revealed the presence of orthologue proteins in two other moths Plutella xylostella and Chilo suppressalis, as well as two butterflies Papilio machaon and Pieris rapae, using immunodetection and proteomic analysis. The unusual conservation of these proteins across large phylogenetic distances indicated a common specific function for these CSPs. This fact prompted us to search for other functions of these proteins and discovered that CSPs are abundantly expressed in the eyes of H. armigera and possibly involved as carriers for carotenoids and visual pigments. This hypothesis is supported by ligand-binding experiments and docking simulations with retinol and beta-carotene. This last orange pigment, occurring in many fruits and vegetables, is an antioxidant and the precursor of visual pigments. We propose that structurally related CSPs solubilise nutritionally important carotenoids in the proboscis, while they act as carriers of both beta-carotene and its derived products 3-hydroxyretinol and 3-hydroxyretinal in the eye. The use of soluble olfactory proteins, such as CSPs, as carriers for visual pigments in insects, here reported for the first time, parallels the function of retinol-binding protein in vertebrates, a lipocalin structurally related to vertebrate odorant-binding proteins" |
| Keywords: | "Animals Eye/*metabolism Insect Proteins/*metabolism Moths/*metabolism Proteomics Receptors, Odorant/metabolism Chemosensory protein Lepidoptera Odorant-binding protein Proboscis Vision.;" |
| Notes: | "MedlineZhu, Jiao Iovinella, Immacolata Dani, Francesca Romana Liu, Yu-Ling Huang, Ling-Qiao Liu, Yang Wang, Chen-Zhu Pelosi, Paolo Wang, Guirong eng Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't Australia 2016/11/24 Int J Biol Sci. 2016 Oct 26; 12(11):1394-1404. doi: 10.7150/ijbs.16517. eCollection 2016" |
