Sucrose taste receptors differ in larval and adult stages of a moth

Abstract

Almost all herbivorous insects feed on plants and use sucrose as a feeding stimulant, but the molecular basis of their sucrose reception remains unclear. The cotton bollworm Helicoverpa armigera as a notorious crop pest worldwide mainly feeds on reproductive organs of many plant species in the larval stage, and its adult draws nectar. Its gustatory sensory neurons sensitive to sucrose are distributed in the taste sensilla of larval maxillary galeas and adult antennae, tarsi and proboscis. In this study, using the ectopic expression system, we discovered that Gr10 highly expressed in the larval sensilla was specifically tuned to sucrose, while Gr6 highly expressed in the adult sensilla responded to fucose, sucrose and fructose. Moreover, using the CRISPR/Cas9 technique, we revealed that Gr10 was mainly used by larvae to detect lower sucrose, while Gr6 was primarily used by adults to detect higher sucrose and other saccharides, which results in the differences in selectivity and sensitivity between larval and adult sugar sensory neurons. Our results demonstrate the sugar receptors in this moth are evolved to adapt towards the larval and adult foods with different types and amounts of sugar, and fill in a gap in sweet taste of animals.