The Cotton Bollworm Larvae Use a Highly Expressed Odorant Receptor to Detect a Potent Insect Repellent, (-)-Bornyl
Xiao-Bin Fan1, Bao-Tong Mo2, Lin-Lin Cao1
1State Key Laboratory of Animal Biodiversity Conservation and Integrated Pest Management, Institute of Zoology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100101, P. R. China.
Abstract:
Helicoverpa armigera is a typical polyphagous species whose larvae primarily bore in flower buds and fruits of host plants, causing serious damage to many crops. Olfaction plays a key role in host selection, but the molecular basis of olfactory perception in larvae is poorly understood. Herein, we identified a highly expressed odorant receptor, HarmOr54, in larval antennae through qRT-PCR and in situ hybridization experiments. Drosophila T1 neurons expressing HarmOr54 ectopically showed specific responses to (-)-bornyl acetate and 2-ethylhexyl acetate. CRISPR/Cas9-generated homozygous mutant larvae lost avoidance to (-)-bornyl acetate, unlike wild-type larvae, while 2-ethylhexyl acetate showed no behavioral effect. Structural modeling and docking revealed that both ligands bound to the same HarmOr54 pocket, but (-)-bornyl acetate displayed stronger binding affinity. These findings enhance our understanding of the olfactory mechanisms in lepidopteran larvae and provide new insights into pest control strategies targeting the larval stage.
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