Sex pheromone recognition and characterization of three pheromone-binding proteins in the legume pod borer, Maruca vitrata Fabricius (Lepidoptera: Crambidae)

Sci Rep. 2016 Oct 4:6:34484. doi: 10.1038/srep34484.

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.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Animals
  • Binding Sites
  • Carrier Proteins / chemistry*
  • Carrier Proteins / genetics
  • Carrier Proteins / metabolism
  • Escherichia coli / chemistry
  • Escherichia coli / genetics
  • Escherichia coli / metabolism
  • Female
  • Gene Expression
  • Insect Proteins / chemistry*
  • Insect Proteins / genetics
  • Insect Proteins / metabolism
  • Lepidoptera / chemistry*
  • Lepidoptera / genetics
  • Lepidoptera / metabolism
  • Male
  • Molecular Docking Simulation*
  • Recombinant Proteins
  • Sex Attractants / chemistry*
  • Sex Attractants / genetics
  • Sex Attractants / metabolism

Substances

  • Carrier Proteins
  • Insect Proteins
  • Recombinant Proteins
  • Sex Attractants
  • pheromone binding protein, insect