Pheromone receptors (PRs) of moths are expressed on the dendritic membrane of odorant receptor neurons (ORNs) housed in the long trichoid sensilla (TS) of antennae and are essential to sex pheromone reception. The function of peripheral neurons of Mythimna separata in recognizing sex pheromones is still unclear. In this study, electroantennogram (EAG) recordings were performed from male and female antennae of M. separata, and showed that the major component of sex pheromones, (Z)-11-hexadecenal (Z11-16:Ald), evoked the strongest response of male antennae with significant differences between sexes. Single sensillum recording (SSR) was used to record responses of neurons housed in TS of male M. separata. The results revealed four types of TS with three neurons housed in each type, based on profiles of responses to sex pheromone components and pheromone analogues. ORN-B of type-I TS was specifically tuned to the major sex pheromone component Z11-16:Ald; ORN-Bs in type-III and type-IV TSs were respectively activated by minor component (Z)-11-hexadecen-1-yl acetate (Z11-16:OAc) and hexadecenal (16:Ald); and ORNs in type-II TS were mainly activated by the sex pheromone analogues. We further cloned full-length sequences of six putative PR genes and an Orco gene. Functional characterization of PRs in the Xenopus oocyte system demonstrated that male antennae-biased MsepPR1 responded strongly to (Z)-9-tetradecenal (Z9-14:Ald), suggesting that MsepPR1 may be expressed in type-II TS. MsepPR6 was exclusively tuned to (Z)-9-tetradecen-1-yl acetate (Z9-14:OAc). MsepPR2 and MsepPR4 showed no responses to any tested components. Female antennae-biased MespPR5 was broadly tuned to Z9-14:Ald, Z9-14:OAc, Z11-16:Ald, and (Z)-11-hexadecen-1-ol (Z11-16:OH). Our results further enriched the sex pheromone recognition mechanism of the peripheral nervous system in moth M. separata.

中文翻译：

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粘虫Mythimna separata（Walker）中性信息素神经元和受体的功能表征

飞蛾的信息素受体（PRs）在触角的长毛线虫感器（TS）中所容纳的气味受体神经元（ORN）的树突膜上表达，并且对于性信息素的接收至关重要。Mythimna separata的周围神经元在识别性信息素中的功能仍不清楚。在这项研究中，从分离的支原体的雄性和雌性触角执行了耳蜗电图（EAG）记录，结果表明性信息素的主要成分（Z）-11-十六烯（Z11-16：Ald）引起了最强烈的反应雄性触角的性别明显不同。单感觉记录（SSR）用于记录雄性分离支原体的TS中所容纳的神经元的反应。结果显示了四种类型的TS，每种类型中都包含三个神经元，基于对性信息素成分和信息素类似物反应的概况。I型TS的ORN-B已专门针对主要性信息素成分Z11-16：Ald进行了调节；III型和IV型TS中的ORN-B分别被次要组分（Z）-11-十六烯-1-基乙酸酯（Z11-16：OAc）和十六烯（16：Ald）激活。II型TS中的ORN和ORN主要被性信息素类似物激活。我们进一步克隆了六个推定的PR基因和一个Orco基因的全长序列。非洲爪蟾卵母细胞系统中PR的功能表征表明，雄性触角偏向的MsepPR1对（Z）-9-十四烯（Z9-14：Ald）产生强烈反应，表明MsepPR1可能在II型TS中表达。MsepPR6专门调整为（Z）-9-十四烯-1-基乙酸酯（Z9-14：OAc）。MsepPR2和MsepPR4对任何测试的组件均未显示任何响应。雌性天线偏置的MespPR5已广泛调整为Z9-14：Ald，Z9-14：OAc，Z11-16：Ald和（Z）-11-hexadecen-1-ol（Z11-16：OH）。我们的结果进一步丰富了蛾类M. separata周围神经系统的性信息素识别机制。