Identification and function of sex pheromones and their receptors in Drosophila

昆虫不仅使用它们的嗅觉和味觉来寻找它们赖以生存的动物或植物的宿主，并寻找产卵的地点，而且还相互交流。交配是成功求爱的结果，而求爱依赖于雄性和雌性之间的交流。最近，我们发现果蝇的很大一部分嗅觉系统似乎专门用于闻苍蝇气味。果蝇是一种广泛用于生物学研究的昆虫。这表明嗅觉性信息素可能在其生殖行为中发挥重要作用。本项目的目的是在果蝇身上鉴定新的嗅觉性信息素，并分析它们在求偶中的作用。在苍蝇的触角中，气味与气味受体相互作用，气味受体基因(或)家族编码。这些气味受体在感觉神经元膜上表达。神经元编码关于电信号中气味的质量、强度和时间特征的信息。嗅觉感觉神经元位于苍蝇触角的感受器结构中，我们可以通过放置在感受器中的电极来记录神经元的电活动。我们发现毛状感受器是一种形态类型，它拥有对苍蝇气味做出反应的神经元。毛虫中有12个或12个基因表达。我们将使用之前开发的测试系统来测试每个受体对苍蝇气味的敏感度。然后，我们将确定苍蝇气味中激活受体的成分。最后，在行为实验中，我们将探索苍蝇如何利用它们的感受器来区分合适的配偶和不合适的配偶。果蝇属于双翅目。双翅目昆虫还包括叮咬苍蝇和蚊子，它们传播疟疾、登革热和锥虫病(人类的昏睡病)等严重疾病。了解一种苍蝇物种中的性信息素交流可能会阐明双翅目昆虫求偶的一般原理，并可能通过给我们提供工具来扰乱昆虫的繁殖行为，从而导致新的昆虫控制策略。

Insects not only use their senses of smell and taste to find the animal or plant hosts from which they feed and to find sites for laying eggs, but also to communicate with each other. Mating is the outcome of successful courtship, and courtship depends on communication between males and females. Recently, we found that a large part of the olfactory system in the fruit fly Drosophila, an insect that is used widely in biological research, appears to be dedicated to smelling fly odours. This suggests olfactory sex pheromones may play an important role in its reproductive behaviour. The aim of this project is to identify new olfactory sex pheromones in Drosophila and to analyze their function in courtship. In the flies' antennae, odours interact with odor receptors, encoded by the Odor receptor gene (Or) family. These odor receptors are expressed in the membranes of sensory neurons. The neurons encode information about the quality, intensity and temporal characteristics of odours in electrical signals. The olfactory sensory neurons are located in the antenna of the fly in structures called sensilla, and we can record the electrical activity of the neurons through an electrode placed into the sensilla. We found that trichoid sensilla, which are one morphological type, hold neurons that respond to fly odours. There are twelve Or genes expressed in the trichoids. We will use a previously developed assay system to test each of the receptors' sensitivity to fly odours. We will then identify the components in the fly odours that activate the receptors. Finally in behavioural experiments, we will explore how the flies use their receptors to distinguish suitable from unsuitable mates. Fruit flies belong to the order of the Diptera. The Diptera also include biting flies and mosquitoes that transmit serious diseases such as malaria, dengue fever and trypanosomiasis ('sleeping sickness' in humans). An understanding of sex pheromone communication in one fly species may elucidate general principles of Dipteran courtship, and may lead to new strategies of insect control by giving us the tools to disrupt the insects' reproductive behaviour.