title: Sex pheromone recognition and characterization of three pheromone-binding proteins in the legume pod borer, Maruca vitrata Fabricius (Lepidoptera: Crambidae).
abstract: Pheromone-binding proteins (PBPs) are essential for the filtering, binding and transporting of sex pheromones across sensillum lymph to membrane-associated pheromone receptors of moths. In this study, three novel PBP genes were expressed in Escherichia coli to examine their involvement in the sex pheromone perception of Maruca vitrata. Fluorescence binding experiments indicated that MvitPBP1-3 had strong binding affinities with four sex pheromones. Moreover, molecular docking results demonstrated that six amino acid residues of three MvitPBPs were involved in the binding of the sex pheromones. These results suggested that MvitPBP1-3 might play critical roles in the perception of female sex pheromones. Additionally, the binding capacity of MvitPBP3 with the host-plant floral volatiles was high and was similar to that of MvitGOBP2. Furthermore, sequence alignment and docking analysis showed that both MvitGOBP2 and MvitPBP3 possessed an identical key binding site (arginine, R130/R140) and a similar protein pocket structure around the binding cavity. Therefore, we hypothesized that MvitPBP3 and MvitGOBP2 might have synergistic roles in binding different volatile ligands. In combination, the use of synthetic sex pheromones and floral volatiles from host-plant may be used in the exploration for more efficient monitoring and integrated management strategies for the legume pod borer in the field.
authors.affiliation: Hubei Key Laboratory of Genetic Regulation and Integrative Biology, School of Life Sciences, Central China Normal University, Wuhan 430079, China.
authors.forename: Aping
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Mao
authors.affiliation: Hubei Key Laboratory of Genetic Regulation and Integrative Biology, School of Life Sciences, Central China Normal University, Wuhan 430079, China.
authors.forename: Jing
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Zhou
authors.affiliation: Hubei Key Laboratory of Genetic Regulation and Integrative Biology, School of Life Sciences, Central China Normal University, Wuhan 430079, China.
authors.lastname: Bin Mao
authors.affiliation: Hubei Key Laboratory of Genetic Regulation and Integrative Biology, School of Life Sciences, Central China Normal University, Wuhan 430079, China.
authors.forename: Ya
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Zheng
authors.affiliation: Hubei Key Laboratory of Genetic Regulation and Integrative Biology, School of Life Sciences, Central China Normal University, Wuhan 430079, China.
authors.forename: Yufeng
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.affiliation: Department of Biological Sciences, National University of Singapore, 14 Science Drive 4, 117543, Singapore.
authors.forename: Daiqin
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Li
authors.affiliation: Key Laboratory of Insect Resource Utilization &Sustainable Pest Management of Hubei Province, College of Plant Science and Technology, Huazhong Agricultural University, Wuhan 430070, China.
authors.forename: Pan
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.affiliation: Hubei Key Laboratory of Genetic Regulation and Integrative Biology, School of Life Sciences, Central China Normal University, Wuhan 430079, China.
authors.forename: Kaiyu
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.affiliation: Key Laboratory of Insect Resource Utilization &Sustainable Pest Management of Hubei Province, College of Plant Science and Technology, Huazhong Agricultural University, Wuhan 430070, China.
authors.forename: Xiaoping
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.affiliation: Hubei Key Laboratory of Genetic Regulation and Integrative Biology, School of Life Sciences, Central China Normal University, Wuhan 430079, China.
authors.forename: Hui
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Ai
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001665:Binding Sites; D002352:Carrier Proteins / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D004926:Escherichia coli / Q000737:chemistry / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D005260:Female; D015870:Gene Expression; D019476:Insect Proteins / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D007915:Lepidoptera / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D008297:Male; D062105:Molecular Docking Simulation; D011994:Recombinant Proteins; D012724:Sex Attractants / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism
chemical_list: D002352:Carrier Proteins; D019476:Insect Proteins; D011994:Recombinant Proteins; D012724:Sex Attractants; C403713:pheromone binding protein, insect