Year: 2019
Type: article
Abstract: How chemical signals are integrated at the peripheral sensory system of insects is still an enigma. Here we show that when coexpressed with Orco in Xenopus oocytes, an odorant receptor from the southern house mosquito, CquiOR32, generated inward (regular) currents when challenged with cyclohexanone and methyl salicylate, whereas eucalyptol and fenchone elicited inhibitory (upward) currents. Responses of CquiOR32-CquiOrco-expressing oocytes to odorants were reduced in a dose-dependent fashion by coapplication of inhibitors. This intrareceptor inhibition was also manifested in vivo in fruit flies expressing the mosquito receptor CquiOR32, as well in neurons on the antennae of the southern house mosquito. Likewise, an orthologue from the yellow fever mosquito, AaegOR71, showed intrareceptor inhibition in the Xenopus oocyte recording system and corresponding inhibition in antennal neurons. Inhibition was also manifested in mosquito behavior. Blood-seeking females were repelled by methyl salicylate, but repellence was significantly reduced when methyl salicylate was coapplied with eucalyptol.
Source: iScience
Authors: Pingxi Xu, Young-Moo Choo, Zhou Chen, Fangfang Zeng, Kaiming Tan, Tsung-Yu Chen, Anthony J. Cornel, Nannan Liu, Walter S. Leal
Institutions: University of California, Davis, Auburn University
Language: English
Subfield: Cellular and Molecular Neuroscience
Field: Neuroscience
Domain: Life Sciences
Open Access status: gold
Estimated APC paid: $3,000
OpenAlex ID: W2961064094