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Insect Sex-Pheromone Signals Mediated by Specific Combinations of Olfactory Receptors

Insect Sex-Pheromone Signals Mediated by Specific Combinations of Olfactory Receptors

Authors :
Takeshi Sakurai
Takao Nakagawa
Kazushige Touhara
Takaaki Nishioka
Source :
Science. 307:1638-1642
Publication Year :
2005
Publisher :
American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS), 2005.

Abstract

We describe two male-specific olfactory receptors (ORs) in the silk moth, Bombyx mori , that are mutually exclusively expressed in a pair of adjacent pheromone-sensitive neurons of male antennae: One is specifically tuned to bombykol, the sex pheromone, and the other to bombykal, its oxidized form. Both pheromone ORs are coexpressed with an OR from the highly conserved insect OR subfamily. This coexpression promotes the functional expression of pheromone receptors and confers ligand-stimulated nonselective cation channel activity. The same effects were also observed for general ORs. Both odorant and pheromone signaling pathways are mediated by means of a common mechanism in insects.

Details

ISSN :
10959203 and 00368075
Volume :
307
Database :
OpenAIRE
Journal :
Science
Accession number :
edsair.doi.dedup.....b80a50427b23c5097858316fa2879cf3
Full Text :
https://doi.org/10.1126/science.1106267