Identification and Expression Analysis of OBP and CSP Genes in the Sex Pheromone-producing Gland of Domestic and Chinese Wild Silkworms
WANG Qinghai
JIA Yanhua
ZHANG Yu
HUANG Zhenfu
Abstract：To explore the mechanism of insect odor recognition and chemoreception,based on the previous transcriptome data,the odorant-binding protein(OBP)and chemosensory protein(CSP)genes in the sex pheromone-producing glands(PGs)of domestic silkworm(Bombyx mori)and Chinese wild silkworm(Bombyx mandarina)were screened and identified,and the spatio-temporal expression patterns of the differentially expressed genes were analyzed.At the same time,the relative concentration changes of sex pheromone components(bombykol and bombykal)in silkworm at different developmental stages were detected by gas chromatography-mass spectrometry(GC-MS).The results showed that a total of 13 OBP genes and 10 CSP genes were identified in the PGs of both domestic and wild silkworms.Among them,five OBP genes(OBP11,OBP23,OBP27,OBP41,and OBP42)and four CSP genes(CSP3,CSP12,CSP13,and CSP15)had significant expression differences.The expression levels of these differentially expressed genes in different tissues of domestic silkworm larvae and adults were different.It was worth noting that the OBP11 gene showed the highest expression level in the PGs of domestic and wild silkworms,and was continuously expressed in the PGs of domestic silkworms at different developmental stages.Further analysis showed that the expression level of this gene was significantly increased at 0.001 level at 24 h after eclosion compared with that before eclosion,and significantly decreased at 0.001 level at 6 h after mating.GC-MS analysis showed that the relative concentration of bombykol remained stable before eclosion,increased significantly at the 0.001 level after 24 h of eclosion,and decreased significantly at the 0.001 level after 3 h of mating.In contrast,the relative concentration of bombykal maintained a stable level during the entire developmental process.In conclusion,the OBP11 gene is highly expressed in the PGs of both domestic and wild silkworms.The expression dynamics of this gene(upregulated after eclosion and downregulated after mating)are highly consistent with the alterations in bombykol content,suggesting that this gene may be involved in the binding and release processes of sex pheromones.
Keywords：Domestic silkwormChinese wild silkwormSex pheromone-producing glandOdorant-binding proteinChemosensory proteinGene identificationExpression analysis
Publication Date：2025-07-15
Online Publishing Date：2026-09-12(First online date of this platform, not the publication date of the document)
Pages：9( 153-161 )