Gene Identification of Pheromone Gland Genes Involved in Type II Sex Pheromone Biosynthesis and Transportation in Female Tea Pest Ectropis grisescens

• Main Authors: Zhao-Qun Li, Long Ma, Qian Yin, Xiao-Ming Cai, Zong-Xiu Luo, Lei Bian, Zhao-Jun Xin, Peng He, Zong-Mao Chen
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: Oxford University Press 2018-03-01
• Series: G3: Genes, Genomes, Genetics
• Subjects: transcriptome; sex pheromone biosynthesis; tissue expression pattern; Ectropis grisescens
• Online Access: http://g3journal.org/lookup/doi/10.1534/g3.117.300543

Moths can biosynthesize sex pheromones in the female sex pheromone glands (PGs) and can distinguish species-specific sex pheromones using their antennae. However, the biosynthesis and transportation mechanism for Type II sex pheromone components has rarely been documented in moths. In this study, we constructed a massive PG transcriptome database (14.72 Gb) from a moth species, Ectropis grisescens, which uses type II sex pheromones and is a major tea pest in China. We further identified putative sex pheromone biosynthesis and transportation-related unigenes: 111 cytochrome P450 monooxygenases (CYPs), 25 odorant-binding proteins (OBPs), and 20 chemosensory proteins (CSPs). Tissue expression and phylogenetic tree analyses showed that one CYP (EgriCYP341-fragment3), one OBP (EgriOBP4), and one CSP (EgriCSP10) gene displayed an enriched expression in the PGs, and that EgriOBP2, 3, and 25 are clustered in the moth pheromone-binding protein clade. We considered these our candidate genes. Our results yielded large-scale PG sequence information for further functional studies.