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Updated: Mar 30, 2026
A Bioinformatics Pipeline for Investigating Molecular Evolution and Gene Expression using RNA-seq
Published on: May 28, 2021
Molecular Characterization and Differential Expression of an Olfactory Receptor Gene Family in the White-Backed
Ming He1, Ya-Nan Zhang2, Peng He1
1State Key Laboratory Breeding Base of Green Pesticide and Agricultural Bioengineering, Key Laboratory of Green Pesticide and Agricultural Bioengineering, Ministry of Education, Guizhou University, Huaxi District, Guiyang, P. R. China.
Abstract:
The white-backed planthopper, Sogatella furcifera, a notorious rice pest in Asia, employs host plant volatiles as cues for host location. In insects, odor detection is mediated by two types of olfactory receptors: odorant receptors (ORs) and ionotropic receptors (IRs). In this study, we identified 63 SfurORs and 14 SfurIRs in S. furcifera based on sequences obtained from the head transcriptome and bioinformatics analysis. The motif-pattern of 130 hemiptera ORs indicated an apparent differentiation in this order. Phylogenetic trees of the ORs and IRs were constructed using neighbor-joining estimates. Most of the ORs had orthologous genes, but a specific OR clade was identified in S. furcifera, which suggests that these ORs may have specific olfactory functions in this species. Our results provide a basis for further investigations of how S. furcifera coordinates its olfactory receptor genes with its plant hosts, thereby providing a foundation for novel pest management approaches based on these genes.
