Genome-wide identification of olfactory receptor and odorant-binding protein gene families and their roles in Heliothine chemosensory evolution.

Overview

Authors: Rong Guo^1,2, Boyang Ni³, Megan L. Fritz¹

ORCID iDs: Rong Guo, Boyang Ni, Megan L. Fritz

Department of Entomology University of Maryland College Park Maryland USA
Computational Biology, Bioinformatics and Genomics Program, Department of Biological Sciences University of Maryland College Park Maryland USA
Institute for Quantitative Biology, Biochemistry and Biotechnology University of Edinburgh Edinburgh UK

Institutions: University of Maryland, College Park (United States); University of Edinburgh (United Kingdom)

Journal: Insect molecular biology, volume 35, issue 5, pages 594-612

Dates: received 9 July 2025; accepted 4 June 2026; published online 28 June 2026; in print October 2026

Type: Research article · Language: English

License: CC BY

Identifiers: DOI 10.1111/imb.70052 · PMID 42366497 · PMCID PMC13551510 · OpenAlex W7166579317

Open access: hybrid, a free copy (OpenAlex)

Status: data only

Categories: genetics / omics (modality), other (organism), cellular / molecular (subfield)

Methods: Statistics

Keywords: Heliothinae, odorant‐binding proteins (OBPs), odorant receptors (ORs)

MeSH: Evolution, Molecular*, Insect Proteins*, Moths*, Receptors, Odorant*, Amino Acid Sequence, Animals, Genome, Insect, Multigene Family, Phylogeny (* major topic)

Topic: Neurobiology and Insect Physiology Research (Cellular and Molecular Neuroscience, Neuroscience), according to OpenAlex

Funding: USDA National Institute of Food and Agriculture, Biotechnology Risk Assessment (2012‐33522‐19793, 2016‐33522‐25640)

Citations: cited by 1 paper (Europe PMC); 94 references in the paper

Abstract

Chemosensory systems play key roles in the survival and reproductive success of insects. Two large and diverse chemosensory gene families, odorant receptors (ORs) and odorant‐binding proteins (OBPs), play critical roles in insect chemosensation and mediate odour‐guided behaviours. In the process of insect chemosensation, odorants from the environment pass through pores in the antennal sensilla and become soluble in the sensillar lymph, either directly on contact or by binding to an OBP. Solubilized odour molecules diffuse through the lymph until they reach and activate their cognate ORs, sending electrophysiological signals to the insect brain. To better understand the evolutionary roles of OR and OBP gene families among members of the Heliothinae, we systematically characterized these two gene families in Chloridea virescens (Lepidoptera: Noctuidae). A total of 81 ORs and 49 OBPs were identified genome‐wide. Based on the number and positions of conserved cysteine residues, the OBPs were classified into three types: 34 Classic OBPs, 8 Minus‐C OBPs and 7 Plus‐C OBPs. Phylogenetic analyses identified potential gene duplications and losses within OR and OBP gene families among members of the Heliothinae, which may be associated with differences in their volatile sensation and olfactory behaviours. Further motif and structural analyses identified a conserved region that was unique among pheromone receptors and predicted as key residues of the binding pocket, implying its critical role in pheromone detection. Future work should focus on experimentally validating its function. Overall, our findings provide important insights into how chemosensory gene evolution contributes to ecological adaptation and reproductive isolation in the Heliothine moths.

Reproduced under the paper's license (CC BY), from the paper cited above.

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Data

Datasets cited

doi:10.5061/dryad.qrfj6q5xc — at Dryad; found in DataCite

Data availability statement

The data that support the findings of this study are openly available in the Dryad Digital Repository (Guo et al., 2026) at https://doi.org/10.5061/dryad.qrfj6q5xc.

Reproduced under the paper's license (CC BY), from the paper cited above.

Versions

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Version 2, 28 September 2026

Publisher: — → Wiley

Version 1, 27 September 2026: the first record

Recorded: type, language, journal, volume, issue, pages, dates, 3 authors, 3 keywords, 9 MeSH terms, 1 funder, 86 references.

Cite

This paper

Guo, R., Ni, B., & Fritz, M. L. (2026). Genome-wide identification of olfactory receptor and odorant-binding protein gene families and their roles in Heliothine chemosensory evolution. Insect molecular biology, 35(5), 594-612. https://doi.org/10.1111/imb.70052

BibTeX

@article{guo2026genome, author = {Guo, Rong and Ni, Boyang and Fritz, Megan L.}, title = {{Genome-wide identification of olfactory receptor and odorant-binding protein gene families and their roles in Heliothine chemosensory evolution}}, journal = {Insect molecular biology}, year = {2026}, month = jun, volume = {35}, number = {5}, pages = {594--612}, publisher = {Wiley}, issn = {0962-1075}, doi = {10.1111/imb.70052}, url = {https://doi.org/10.1111/imb.70052}, pmid = {42366497}, pmcid = {PMC13551510} }

RIS

TY - JOUR AU - Guo, Rong AU - Ni, Boyang AU - Fritz, Megan L. TI - Genome-wide identification of olfactory receptor and odorant-binding protein gene families and their roles in Heliothine chemosensory evolution T2 - Insect molecular biology J2 - Insect Mol Biol PY - 2026 DA - 2026/06/28 VL - 35 IS - 5 SP - 594 EP - 612 SN - 0962-1075 PB - Wiley DO - 10.1111/imb.70052 UR - https://doi.org/10.1111/imb.70052 LA - en ER -

CSL-JSON

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