Characterization of an Enantioselective Odorant Receptor in the Yellow Fever Mosquito Aedes aegypti

Enantiomers differ only in the left or right handedness (chirality) of their orientations and exhibit identical chemical and physical properties. In chemical communication systems, enantiomers can be differentially active at the physiological and behavioral levels. Only recently were enantioselectiv...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:PloS one 2009-09, Vol.4 (9), p.e7032-e7032
Main Authors: Bohbot, Jonathan D, Dickens, Joseph C
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Aedes - metabolism
Aedes aegypti
Agriculture
alcohols
Animals
Aquatic insects
Behavior
Chemical communication
chemoreceptors
Chirality
Communications systems
Drosophila
electrophysiology
Electrophysiology - methods
Enantiomers
Fever
Handedness
insect proteins
Insects
Kairomones
Laboratories
Ligands
Lymantria dispar
Microelectrodes
Models, Biological
Molecular Biology
Mosquitoes
Neurons - metabolism
Neuroscience/Sensory Systems
Octanols - chemistry
octenol
odorant receptor 8
Odorant receptors
Odorants
Olfactory receptor neurons
Olfactory Receptor Neurons - metabolism
olfactory sensory neurons
Oocytes
Oocytes - metabolism
Pheromones
Physical properties
Physiological aspects
Physiology/Sensory Systems
Plant sciences
Proteins
Receptors
Receptors, Odorant - metabolism
Sensory neurons
Smell
Stereoisomerism
Vector-borne diseases
Xenopus
Xenopus laevis
Yellow fever
Yellow Fever - genetics
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Summary:Enantiomers differ only in the left or right handedness (chirality) of their orientations and exhibit identical chemical and physical properties. In chemical communication systems, enantiomers can be differentially active at the physiological and behavioral levels. Only recently were enantioselective odorant receptors demonstrated in mammals while their existence in insects has remained hypothetical. Using the two-microelectrode voltage clamp of Xenopus oocytes, we show that the yellow fever mosquito, Aedes aegypti, odorant receptor 8 (AaOR8) acts as a chiral selective receptor for the (R)-(—)-enantiomer of 1-octen-3-ol, which in the presence of other kairomones is an attractant used by blood-sucking insects to locate their hosts. In addition to steric constraints, chain length and degree of unsaturation play important roles in this recognition process. This is the first characterization of an enantioselective odorant receptor in insects and the results demonstrate that an OR alone, without helper proteins, can account for chiral specificity exhibited by olfactory sensory neurons (OSNs).
ISSN:1932-6203
1932-6203
DOI:10.1371/journal.pone.0007032