Screening of olfactory genes related to blood-feeding behaviors in Culex pipiens quinquefasciatus and Culex pipiens molestus by transcriptome analysis

作者：Zhenyu Gu, Heting Gao, Qiaojiang Yang, Meng Ni, Man-jin Li, Dan Xing, Tongyan Zhao, Tongyan Zhao, Teng Zhao, Teng Zhao, Chun-Xiao Li · 发表于：PLoS neglected tropical diseases · 年份：2022 · DOI：10.1371/journal.pntd.0010204 · 被引用次数：14 · 研究领域：Neurobiology and Insect Physiology Research、Olfactory and Sensory Function Studies、Mosquito-borne diseases and control

BACKGROUND: Culex pipiens quinquefasciatus Say (Cx. quinquefasciatus) and Culex pipiens form molestus Forskal (Cx. molestus) in the Culex pipiens complex group show considerable differences in host seeking, blood feeding, mating behavior and in vector competence. Blood-feeding mosquito behaviors are closely related to their olfactory gene expression and olfactory gene repertoire composition. Comparing olfactory genes between these two subspecies with significantly different blood-feeding behaviors can support further research on the molecular mechanism of the Culex pipiens complex olfactory sensory system, providing a new approach for determining candidate attractant or repellent compounds. METHODS: Non-blood-feeding (NBF) and post-blood-feeding (PBF) olfactory system transcriptomes of the two subspecies were sequenced, and the biological functions of their differentially expressed genes were described by bioinformatics analysis. A quantitative polymerase chain reaction (qPCR) was applied to validate the RNA-seq data. The roles of particular olfactory receptors in Cx. quinquefasciatus blood-feeding behaviors were evaluated by RNAi. RESULTS: Five, 7, 24, and 3 Cx. quinquefasciatus-specific OBPs, Cx. molestus-specific OBPs, Cx. quinquefasciatus-specific ORs and Cx. molestus-specific ORs were identified, respectively. The majority of selected ORs were consistent with the predicted transcriptome sequencing results after qRT-PCR validation. OR5 was expressed only in Cx. quinquefas...