Wen Li

In the chemosensory system of insects, odorant-binding proteins (OBPs) and odorant-degrading enzymes (ODEs) play a role in the host location process. This study identified and analyzed chemosensory-related genes from the transcriptomes of different tissues of male and female adults of Tomicus yunnanensis. Subsequently, host odorants from Pinus yunnanensis and non-host odorants from Alnus ferdinandi-coburgii were used to treat the adults of T. yunnanensis to clarify the gene expression changes in the insects and, combined with molecular docking, to explore the mechanism of the non-host odor interfering with the host localisation of T. yunnanensis. A total of 137 chemosensory-related genes were obtained, among which TyunOBP6 was specifically highly expressed in the antennae of T. yunnanensis; TyunCYP4G2 and TyunCYP6DF1 were highly expressed in the remnants of T. yunnanensis, selected as key genes for further research. The odor interference experiment results show that both host and non-host odorants caused up-regulation of TyunOBP6 in antennal expression, and significant changes in the expression of TyunCYP4G2 and TyunCYP6DF1 in the remnants were also observed. The molecular docking results indicate that non-host compounds could compete with host compounds for protein binding sites. The non-host odor of A. ferdinandi-coburgii can interfere with TyunOBPs and TyunCYPs in T. yunnanensis and affect their host localization.

Bark beetle, as a trunk borer, has caused a large number of tree deaths and seriously damaged the mountain forest ecosystem. Bark beetles oxidize the secondary metabolites of plants, degrade them, and excrete them from the body or convert them into components needed by the body. This process is completed by the cooperation of CYPs, GSTs, and CCEs and occurs in different tissues of the insects, including the gut (i.e., the part where beetle pheromone is produced and accumulated) and antennae (i.e., the olfactory organ used to sense defensive monoterpenes and other plant-related compounds and pheromones in the air). In this study, we identified and characterized three gene superfamilies of CYPs, GSTs, and CCEs involved in the detoxification of endobiotics (e.g., hormones and steroids) and xenobiotics (e.g., insecticides, sex pheromones, and plant allelochemicals) through a combination approach of bioinformatics, phylogenetics, and expression profiles. Transcriptome analyses led to the identification of 113 transcripts encoding 51 P450s, 33 GSTs, and 29 CCEs from Tomicus yunnanensis Kirkendall and Faccoli, 2008 (Coleoptera, Scolytinae). The P450s of T. yunnanensis were phylogenetically classified into four clades, representing the majority of the genes in the CYP3 clan. The CCEs from T. yunnanensis were separately grouped into five clades, and the GST superfamily was assigned to five clades. Expression profiles revealed that the detoxification genes were broadly expressed in various tissues as an implication of functional diversities. Our current study has complemented the resources for the detoxification genes in the family Coleoptera and allows for functional experiments to identify candidate molecular targets involved in degrading plants’ secondary metabolites, providing a theoretical basis for insect resistance in mixed forests.