Identification and motif analyses of candidate nonreceptor olfactory genes of Dendroctonus adjunctus Blandford (Coleoptera: Curculionidae) from the head transcriptome

Sunday, November 13, 2022

9:00 AM – 9:12 AM PT

Location: Vancouver Convention Centre, Meeting Room 213

Presenting Author(s)

Brenda Torres Huerta

PhD Student
College of Agricultural Sciences
Texcoco

Co-Author(s)

OS

Obdulia Lourdes Segura León

Professor Researcher
Colegio de Postgraduados
Texcoco, Estado de México, México
HG

Héctor González Hernández

College of Agricultural Sciences
Texcoco, Estado de México, México

The olfactory system is part of insects' extraordinary capacity and specificity to interact with the environment, locate hosts and sexual partners, and avoid natural enemies. Olfaction is a perireceptor process that involves the solubilization of odors by binding proteins (OBPs) and chemosensory proteins (CSPs) that transport signaling molecules to neuronal receptors. This study represents the first analysis of the head transcriptome and the identification of olfactory proteins involved in odor perception of the round-headed pine beetle Dendroctonus adjunctus, one of the five most critical primary pests in forest ecosystems of Mexico, whose dispersal, colonization, and mating behaviors are associated with a semiochemical-mediated communication system. We identified 204 genes with chemosensory functions through homology search, of which 27 encode OBPs and 7 CSPs, proteins that we classified and compared with homologous proteins from other Scolytinae and Coleoptera species through multialignments, de novo motif analysis, and phylogenetic analysis. The repertoire of OBPs and CSPs from D. adjunctus expands the knowledge of olfactory genes in bark beetles species, which will aid in the understanding of colonization and aggregation behaviors for the development of tools that can be integrated into management, such as the design of biosensors or the in sillico development of chemical attractants or repellents.