TY - JOUR
T1 - Disruption of the odorant receptor co-receptor (Orco) reveals its critical role in multiple olfactory behaviors of a cosmopolitan pest
AU - Chen, Xuanhao
AU - Yao, Shuyuan
AU - Xie, Liangqian
AU - Li, Jinyang
AU - Xiong, Lei
AU - Yang, Xiaozhen
AU - Chen, Yi
AU - Cao, Fang
AU - Hou, Qing
AU - You, Minsheng
AU - Liu, Yuanyuan
AU - Gurr, Geoff M.
AU - You, Shijun
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
© 2024 Elsevier Ltd
PY - 2025/2
Y1 - 2025/2
N2 - The olfactory system of insects plays a pivotal role in multiple, essential activities including feeding, mating, egg laying, and host localization. The capacity of odorant receptors to recognize odor molecules relies on odorant receptor co-receptors forming heterodimers. Here we report the successful engineering a homozygous mutant strain of diamondback moth (Plutella xylostella) in which the odorant receptor co-receptor PxOrco was silenced using CRISPR/Cas9. This insect is a globally important crop pest for which novel control methods are urgently required. Behavioral assays demonstrated that PxOrco knockout males exhibited abolished courtship behaviors, inability to mate, and loss of selective preference for P. xylostella's key sex pheromone components. Whilst female mating behavior and fecundity remained unaffected by PxOrco knockout, oviposition response to leaf alcohol, a key cue for normal oviposition behavior, was lost. Electroantennography revealed drastically reduced responses to sex pheromones and plant volatiles in PxOrco-deficient adults but food location by larvae was unaffected. Moreover, expression analysis of PxOrco-deficient pheromone receptors (PRs) indicated varied regulation patterns, with down-regulation observed in several PRs in both sexes. These findings underscore the critical role of PxOrco in regulating multiple olfactory aspects in P. xylostella, including feeding, mating, and host location. Our study identifies the potential of disrupting the Orco gene in this and other pest species to provide novel avenues for future pest control.
AB - The olfactory system of insects plays a pivotal role in multiple, essential activities including feeding, mating, egg laying, and host localization. The capacity of odorant receptors to recognize odor molecules relies on odorant receptor co-receptors forming heterodimers. Here we report the successful engineering a homozygous mutant strain of diamondback moth (Plutella xylostella) in which the odorant receptor co-receptor PxOrco was silenced using CRISPR/Cas9. This insect is a globally important crop pest for which novel control methods are urgently required. Behavioral assays demonstrated that PxOrco knockout males exhibited abolished courtship behaviors, inability to mate, and loss of selective preference for P. xylostella's key sex pheromone components. Whilst female mating behavior and fecundity remained unaffected by PxOrco knockout, oviposition response to leaf alcohol, a key cue for normal oviposition behavior, was lost. Electroantennography revealed drastically reduced responses to sex pheromones and plant volatiles in PxOrco-deficient adults but food location by larvae was unaffected. Moreover, expression analysis of PxOrco-deficient pheromone receptors (PRs) indicated varied regulation patterns, with down-regulation observed in several PRs in both sexes. These findings underscore the critical role of PxOrco in regulating multiple olfactory aspects in P. xylostella, including feeding, mating, and host location. Our study identifies the potential of disrupting the Orco gene in this and other pest species to provide novel avenues for future pest control.
KW - Electroantennography
KW - Mating disruption
KW - Odorant receptor co-receptors (orco)
KW - Oviposition behavior
KW - Pheromone
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U2 - 10.1016/j.ibmb.2024.104248
DO - 10.1016/j.ibmb.2024.104248
M3 - Article
C2 - 39674517
AN - SCOPUS:85212086837
SN - 0965-1748
VL - 177
JO - Insect Biochemistry and Molecular Biology
JF - Insect Biochemistry and Molecular Biology
M1 - 104248
ER -