Understanding of insect odorant-binding proteins and cytochrome P450 mechanisms for the development of new insect behaviour control agents

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Insects guide important behaviours for their survival through chemical signals. E. g., male gypsy moths detect the attractant pheromone emitted by the females or the odours of host plants, using their antennae. Hollow sensory hairs on the antennae contain nerve cell endings that are bathed by pheromone-binding proteins (PBPs). These PBPs are essential for the highly sensitive and selective signalling of the sensory hairs. Two PBPs in gypsy moth differ in their binding mechanism for various natural odorants or for synthetic olfaction modulators, discovered in the applicant's group. These modulators either decrease or enhance the response of the moths to a particular pheromone or plant odour. The first objective of this proposal aims to link the structure of the two PBPs and their cognate ligands with the electrophysiological responses of single sensory hairs. These responses can be linked to the behaviour of the insect. Such molecule-to-behaviour links are necessary for the optimization of compounds that modulate pest insect behaviour through their effect on the olfactory system.