Anosmic flies: what Orco silencing does to olive fruit flies
Date
2020Language
en
Keyword
Abstract
Background: The olive fruit fly (Bactrocera oleae) is the most destructive pest of the olive cultivation worldwide causing significant production losses and olive fruit impoverishment, as its larvae feed exclusively on the olive fruit. Reproductive and sexual behavior, as well as host-plant recognition of the fly, are highly dependent on its chemosensory system. Therefore, exploring the role of genes that play a critical role in olfaction, could reveal potential molecular targets that determine species-specific features on chemical communication and could be used to impair sexual behavior. Results: In this study we identified the gene that encodes the conserved olfactory co-receptor Orco (Odorant receptor co-receptor), which interacts with all divergent insect odorant receptors, and investigated how disruption of its expression affects chemoreception. We initially searched the expression profile of Bo-Orco in both sexes during sexual maturation, as well as pre- and post-mating communication by relative quantitative real time PCR (qRT-PCR) analysis suggesting that Bo-Orco was abundantly expressed in sexually mature adults. We further investigated the functional role of Bo-Orco in mating and oviposition behavior via transient gene silencing that was performed through in vivo dsRNA hemolymph injections in sexually mature flies 7 days after eclosion. Orco-knockdown phenotypes in both sexes showed reduced copulation rates in mating competitiveness tests, possibly through impaired olfactory-mediated detection of sex pheromone. In addition, oviposition was significantly inhibited in dsRNA-Orco injected females in a post-mating behavior test. Conclusions: Our results demonstrate that Orco plays a crucial role in the reproductive behavior of the olive fruit fly, since pre- and post-mating processes were affected. This is the first report in the olive fruit fly that links the chemosensory pathway with the mating behavior and the reproductive potential at a molecular basis, rendering this gene a potential target for the improvement of the olive fruit fly population control techniques. © 2020, The Author(s).
Collections
Related items
Showing items related by title, author, creator and subject.
-
Modeling the distribution of phosphine and insect mortality in cylindrical grain silos with Computational Fluid Dynamics: Validation with field trials
Agrafioti P., Kaloudis E., Bantas S., Sotiroudas V., Athanassiou C.G. (2020)In the present work, the distribution of phosphine gas in six metal silos with wheat was modelled and compared with available distribution data from phosphine sensors. During the fumigation, a recirculation system was used ... -
Achilles, a new family of transcriptionally active retrotransposons from the olive fruit fly, with y chromosome preferential distribution
Tsoumani K.T., Drosopoulou E., Bourtzis K., Gariou-Papalexiou A., Mavragani-Tsipidou P., Zacharopoulou A., Mathiopoulos K.D. (2015)Sex chromosomes have many unusual features relative to autosomes. The in depth exploration of their structure will improve our understanding of their origin and divergence (degeneration) as well as the evolution of genetic ... -
Insecticidal effect and impact of fitness of three diatomaceous earths on different maize hybrids for the eco-friendly control of the invasive stored-product pest Prostephanus truncatus (Horn)
Kavallieratos N.G., Athanassiou C.G., Peteinatos G.G., Boukouvala M.C., Benelli G. (2018)Diatomaceous earths (DEs) are able to successfully protect grain commodities from noxious stored-product insect and mite infestations; however, their effectiveness may be moderated by the grain hybrid or variety they are ...