The Anopheles gambiae odorant binding protein 1 (AgamOBP1) mediates indole recognition in the antennae of female mosquitoes.
Haematophagous insects are frequently carriers of parasitic diseases, including malaria. The mosquito Anopheles gambiae is the major vector of malaria in sub-Saharan Africa and is thus responsible for thousands of deaths daily. Although the role of olfaction in A. gambiae host detection has been demonstrated, little is known about the combinations of ligands and odorant binding proteins (OBPs) that can produce specific odor-related responses in vivo. We identified a ligand, indole, for an A. gambiae odorant binding protein, AgamOBP1, modeled the interaction in silico and confirmed the interaction using biochemical assays. RNAi-mediated gene silencing coupled with electrophysiological analyses confirmed that AgamOBP1 binds indole in A. gambiae and that the antennal receptor cells do not respond to indole in the absence of AgamOBP1. This case represents the first documented instance of a specific A. gambiae OBP-ligand pairing combination, demonstrates the significance of OBPs in odor recognition, and can be expanded to the identification of other ligands for OBPs of Anopheles and other medically important insects.
Biessmann
Harald
H
Developmental Biology Center, Department of Molecular Biology and Biochemistry, University of California Irvine, Irvine, California, United States of America.
Andronopoulou
Evi
E
Biessmann
Max R
MR
Douris
Vassilis
V
Dimitratos
Spiros D
SD
Eliopoulos
Elias
E
Guerin
Patrick M
PM
Iatrou
Kostas
K
Justice
Robin W
RW
Kröber
Thomas
T
Marinotti
Osvaldo
O
Tsitoura
Panagiota
P
Woods
Daniel F
DF
Walter
Marika F
MF
D000818:Animals; D000852:Anopheles / Q000378:metabolism*; D004594:Electrophysiology / Q000379:methods; D005260:Female; D007211:Indoles / Q000737:chemistry / Q000378:metabolism*; D008024:Ligands; D008297:Male; D008954:Models, Biological; D034622:RNA Interference; D012330:RNA, Double-Stranded / Q000378:metabolism; D018035:Receptors, Odorant / Q000378:metabolism*; D011994:Recombinant Proteins / Q000378:metabolism; D012737:Sex Factors; D013997:Time Factors
D007211:Indoles; D008024:Ligands; D012330:RNA, Double-Stranded; D018035:Receptors, Odorant; D011994:Recombinant Proteins; C045648:odorant-binding protein; C030374:indole