Affiliation:
1. State Key Laboratory of Silkworm Genome Biology, Southwest University, Chongqing, People's Republic of China
Abstract
Gustatory systems in phytophagous insects are used to perceive feeding stimulants and deterrents, and are involved in insect decisions to feed on particular plants. During the process, gustatory receptors (Grs) can recognize diverse phytochemicals and provide a molecular basis for taste perception. The silkworm, as a representative Lepidoptera species, has developed a strong feeding preference for mulberry leaves. The mulberry-derived flavonoid glycoside, isoquercetin, is required to induce feeding behaviours. However, the corresponding Grs for isoquercetin and underlying molecular mechanisms remain unclear. In this study, we used molecular methods, voltage clamp recordings and feeding assays to identify silkworm BmGr63, which was tuned to isoquercetin. The use of qRT-PCR confirmed that
BmGr63
was highly expressed in the mouthpart of fourth and fifth instar larvae. Functional analysis showed that oocytes expressing
BmGr63
from the ‘bitter’ clade responded to mulberry extracts. Among 20 test chemicals, BmGr63 specifically recognized isoquercetin. The preference for isoquercetin was not observed in
BmGr63
knock-down groups. The tuning between BmGr63 and isoquercetin has been demonstrated, which is meaningful to explain the silkworm-mulberry feeding mechanism from molecular levels and thus provides evidence for further feeding relationship studies between phytophagous insects and host plants.
Funder
Innovation Research 2035 Pilot Plan of Southwest University
National Key Research and Development Program
Chongqing Research Program of Basic Research and Frontier Technology
Subject
General Agricultural and Biological Sciences,General Environmental Science,General Immunology and Microbiology,General Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology,General Medicine
Cited by
4 articles.
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