title: Characterization of an enantioselective odorant receptor in the yellow fever mosquito Aedes aegypti.
abstract: 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).
authors.affiliation: United States Department of Agriculture, Agricultural Research Service, Henry A. Wallace Beltsville Agricultural Research Center, Plant Sciences Institute, Invasive Insect Biocontrol and Behavior Laboratory, Beltsville, Maryland, USA.
authors.forename: Jonathan D
authors.initials: JD
authors.lastname: Bohbot
authors.forename: Joseph C
authors.initials: JC
authors.lastname: Dickens
mesh_terms: D000330:Aedes / Q000378:metabolism*; D000818:Animals; D004594:Electrophysiology / Q000379:methods; D008954:Models, Biological; D009474:Neurons / Q000378:metabolism; D000442:Octanols / Q000737:chemistry; D009812:Odorants; D018034:Olfactory Receptor Neurons / Q000378:metabolism; D009865:Oocytes / Q000378:metabolism; D018035:Receptors, Odorant / Q000378:metabolism*; D012903:Smell; D013237:Stereoisomerism; D014981:Xenopus; D014982:Xenopus laevis; D015004:Yellow Fever / Q000235:genetics
chemical_list: D000442:Octanols; D018035:Receptors, Odorant; C038844:1-octen-3-ol