Odorant recognition in insect olfactory system to control insect behaviour

该项目旨在对昆虫检测气味的能力进行新的研究，并确定潜在的引诱剂化合物，以支持环境更安全的虫害控制策略的发展。昆虫依靠感官来检测食物，这对于基于气味的行为控制方法的发展具有相当大的潜力。气味结合蛋白（OBP）是从大量化合物中识别气味型昆虫引诱剂的理想分子靶标。然而，我们对昆虫化学感受的分子机制的理解是有限的。本研究为深入了解OBP在昆虫分子识别中的作用提供了有价值的信息，并为基于OBP与化合物的结合能力筛选引诱剂提供了新的途径。

This project seeks to develop new insights into insect’s ability to detect odour and to identify potential attractant compounds to support the development of environmentally safer insect pest control strategies. Insect reliance on senses to detect food has considerable potential for the development of odour-based behaviour control methods. Odorant binding proteins (OBPs) are an ideal molecular target to identify odorant-based insect attractants from a large pool of compounds. However, our understanding of the molecular mechanism that mediates chemoreception in insects is limited. This project may provide valuable insight into the role of OBPs in molecular recognition in insects and develop a new way to screen attractants based on the binding ability of OBPs to compounds.