The different types of volatile molecules are detected by olfactory receptor neurons (ORN) in the moth antenna.
Besides pheromones, a multitude of other behaviorally active compounds have been identified, including both green leaf volatiles and flower odors ( Renwick and Chew, 1994 Daly et al., 2001). The identification of a number of pheromones has led to extensive efforts in analyzing the olfactory sense in a variety of moth species ( Vogt and Blomquist, 2003). Among these cues sex pheromones have attracted considerable interest, both due to their involvement in eliciting a clear and quantifiable behavior, and their potential application in pest control (reviewed in Witzgall et al., 2010). Volatile cues elicit complex behaviors crucial to fitness in many insect species. One female-specific receptor (MsexOR-5) displays similarities to BmorOR-19, a receptor in Bombyx mori tuned to the detection of the plant odor linalool. The putative pheromone receptors are co-expressed with the co-receptor involved in general odorant signal transduction, the DmelOr83b homolog MsexOR-2. Two male-specific receptors (the previously reported MsexOR-1 and the newly identified MsexOR-4) show great resemblance to other male moth pheromone ORs. Here we identify four OR-encoding genes differentially expressed in the antennae of males and females of the sphingid moth Manduca sexta. The key players in the detection of odorants are olfactory receptor (OR) proteins.
Ewald Große-Wilde 1*, Regina Stieber 1, Maike Forstner 2, Jürgen Krieger 2, Dieter Wicher 1 and Bill S.
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