Odorant Receptors Mediating Benzaldehyde Detection in Mythimna separata: Functional Identification and Ligand Selectivity.
- 1Shenzhen Branch, Guangdong Laboratory for Lingnan Modern Agriculture, Synthetic Biology Laboratory of the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs, Agricultural Genomics Institute at Shenzhen, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Shenzhen 518120, China.
- 2State Key Laboratory for Biology of Plant Diseases and Insect Pests, Institute of Plant Protection, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Beijing 100193, China.
Abstract
Benzaldehyde (BA) is a ubiquitous aromatic volatile produced by both plants and insects. In Mythimna separata, it also serves as a male-emitted pheromonal signal that mediates male-male competition by antagonizing the pheromone receptor MsepPR3 and disrupting the perception of the female sex pheromone Z11-16:Ald. Whether M. separata also possesses conventional odorant receptors (ORs) that detect BA as an environmental volatile remains unknown. Here, we investigated the peripheral molecular basis of BA detection in M. separata. Electroantennogram (EAG) recordings revealed robust, dose-dependent responses to BA in both female and male adults, demonstrating that the antennal olfactory system readily detects BA. Candidate ORs were selected based on phylogenetic relationships and functional evidence from homologous receptors in other noctuid moths and subsequently characterized using the Xenopus oocyte expression system. Two BA-responsive ORs with distinct ligand profiles were identified. MsepOR42 displayed a highly selective response to BA, whereas MsepOR29 showed broader tuning and responded to BA, benzyl alcohol and 2-phenylethanol. These results establish the peripheral molecular basis of BA detection in M. separata and reveal that this ecologically important volatile is encoded by ORs with contrasting ligand selectivity. Our findings expand the understanding of aromatic volatile coding in moths and identify candidate molecular targets for odor-based pest management.
Related
- Molecular Determinants of Ligand Selectivity in Diverse Ionotropic Glutamate Receptors.
- Solute selectivity and functional divergence of aquaporins in reef-building corals
- Higher visual areas act like domain-general filters with strong selectivity and functional specialization
- Genome-Wide Identification of the Two-Pore Potassium Channel Gene Family in Sugar Beet (Beta vulgaris L.) and Functional Analysis of BvTPK2 in Salt Tolerance
- Identification of critical timing when abnormal weather affects maize and soft wheat yields in Italy using functional quantile regression
BibTeX
@article{sun2026odorant,
title = {{Odorant Receptors Mediating Benzaldehyde Detection in Mythimna separata: Functional Identification and Ligand Selectivity.}},
author = {Dongdong Sun and Xiaoqing Wang and Yiping Fan and Bo Zhang and Wenyi Yu and Yang Liu and Guirong Wang},
journal = {Insects},
year = {2026},
month = oct,
doi = {10.3390/insects17101059},
url = {https://europepmc.org/article/MED/42940968},
note = {CC BY},
}
RIS
TY - JOUR
TI - Odorant Receptors Mediating Benzaldehyde Detection in Mythimna separata: Functional Identification and Ligand Selectivity.
AU - Dongdong Sun
AU - Xiaoqing Wang
AU - Yiping Fan
AU - Bo Zhang
AU - Wenyi Yu
AU - Yang Liu
AU - Guirong Wang
PY - 2026
DA - 2026/10/14
JO - Insects
DO - 10.3390/insects17101059
UR - https://europepmc.org/article/MED/42940968
AB - Benzaldehyde (BA) is a ubiquitous aromatic volatile produced by both plants and insects. In Mythimna separata, it also serves as a male-emitted pheromonal signal that mediates male-male competition by antagonizing the pheromone receptor MsepPR3 and disrupting the perception of the female sex pheromone Z11-16:Ald. Whether M. separata also possesses conventional odorant receptors (ORs) that detect BA as an environmental volatile remains unknown. Here, we investigated the peripheral molecular basis of BA detection in M. separata. Electroantennogram (EAG) recordings revealed robust, dose-dependent responses to BA in both female and male adults, demonstrating that the antennal olfactory system readily detects BA. Candidate ORs were selected based on phylogenetic relationships and functional evidence from homologous receptors in other noctuid moths and subsequently characterized using the Xenopus oocyte expression system. Two BA-responsive ORs with distinct ligand profiles were identified. MsepOR42 displayed a highly selective response to BA, whereas MsepOR29 showed broader tuning and responded to BA, benzyl alcohol and 2-phenylethanol. These results establish the peripheral molecular basis of BA detection in M. separata and reveal that this ecologically important volatile is encoded by ORs with contrasting ligand selectivity. Our findings expand the understanding of aromatic volatile coding in moths and identify candidate molecular targets for odor-based pest management.
SN - 2075-4450
ER -