AUTHOR=Shen Sifan , Fan Zhizhi , Zhang Xun , Kong Xiangbo , Liu Fu , Zhang Zhen , Zhang Xinhua , Hu Xiumei , Zhang Sufang 

TITLE=The Characteristics of Chemosensory and Opsin Genes in Newly Emerged and Sexually Mature Agrilus planipennis, an Important Quarantine Forest Beetle

JOURNAL=Frontiers in Genetics

VOLUME=11

YEAR=2021

URL=https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/genetics/articles/10.3389/fgene.2020.604757

DOI=10.3389/fgene.2020.604757

ISSN=1664-8021

ABSTRACT=<p>The emerald ash borer (EAB), <italic>Agrilus planipennis</italic>, is a highly destructive quarantine pest. The olfactory and visual systems of <italic>A. planipennis</italic> play different but critical roles at newly emerged and sexually mature stages; however, the molecular basis underlying these differences remain unclear. Consequently, based on deep transcriptome sequencing, we evaluated the expression levels of chemosensory-related proteins and opsins at the two developmental stages of <italic>A. planipennis</italic>. We found 15 new chemosensory-related genes in our transcriptome assembly compared with the previous genome assembly, including 6 that code for odorant-binding proteins (OBPs) and 9 for chemosensory proteins (CSPs). The expression of several chemosensory-related genes (<italic>OBP7, OBP10, CSP1</italic>, and <italic>CSP12</italic>) differed markedly between newly emerged and sexually mature <italic>A. planipennis</italic>. We also found that the expression of <italic>UV opsin 2</italic> and <italic>LW opsin 1</italic> was higher in sexually mature male <italic>A. planipennis</italic>, which may be associated with their strong visual mate detection ability. This study forms the basis for further investigation of the chemosensory and visual system of <italic>A. planipennis</italic>, and these differentially expressed genes between newly emerged and sexually mature stages may serve as targets for the management of this destructive forest pest after sexual maturity.</p>