No ligand was identified of three candidate pheromone receptor genes in <i>H.armigera</i>.

<p>(A) HarmOR11/HarmOR2. (B) HarmOR14/HarmOR2 and (C) HarmOR15/HarmOR2. The concentrations of all tested pheromone compounds were 10⁻⁴ M.</p

Functional Specificity of Sex Pheromone Receptors in the Cotton Bollworm <i>Helicoverpa armigera</i>

<div><p>Male moths can accurately perceive the sex pheromone emitted from conspecific females by their highly accurate and specific olfactory sensory system. Pheromone receptors are of special importance in moth pheromone reception because of their central role in chemosensory signal transduction processes that occur in olfactory receptor neurons in the male antennae. There are a number of pheromone receptor genes have been cloned, however, only a few have been functionally characterized. Here we cloned six full-length pheromone receptor genes from <i>Helicoverpa armigera</i> male antennae. Real-time PCR showing all genes exhibited male-biased expression in adult antennae. Functional analyses of the six pheromone receptor genes were then conducted in the heterologous expression system of <i>Xenopus</i> oocytes. HarmOR13 was found to be a specific receptor for the major sex pheromone component Z11-16:Ald. HarmOR6 was equally tuned to both of Z9-16: Ald and Z9-14: Ald. HarmOR16 was sensitively tuned to Z11-16: OH. HarmOR11, HarmOR14 and HarmOR15 failed to respond to the tested candidate pheromone compounds. Our experiments elucidated the functions of some pheromone receptor genes of <i>H. armigera</i>. These advances may provide remarkable evidence for intraspecific mating choice and speciation extension in moths at molecular level.</p> </div

Responses of <i>Xenopus</i> oocytes with co-expressed HarmOR13/HarmOR2 to stimulation with pheromone compounds.

<p>(A) Inward current responses of HarmOR13/HarmOR2 <i>Xenopus</i> oocytes in response to 10⁻⁴ M solution of pheromone compounds. (B) Response profile of HarmOR13/HarmOR2 <i>Xenopus</i> oocytes. Error bars indicate SEM (n = 7). (C) HarmOR13/HarmOR2 <i>Xenopus</i> oocytes stimulated with a range of Z11-16:Ald concentrations. (D) Dose–response curve of HarmOR13/HarmOR2 <i>Xenopus</i> oocytes to Z11-16:Ald. Responses are normalized by defining the maximal response as 100. EC50 = 3.403×10⁻⁶ M. Error bars indicate SEM (n = 6).</p

Responses of <i>Xenopus</i> oocytes with co-expressed HarmOR6/HarmOR2 to stimulation with pheromone compounds.

<p>(A) Inward current responses of HarmOR6/HarmOR2 <i>Xenopus</i> oocytes in response to 10⁻⁴ M solution of pheromone compounds. (B) Response profile of HarmOR6/HarmOR2 <i>Xenopus</i> oocytes. Error bars indicate SEM (n = 7). (C) HarmOR6/HarmOR2 <i>Xenopus</i> oocytes stimulated with a range of Z9-14:Ald concentrations. (D) Dose–response curve of HarmOR6/HarmOR2 <i>Xenopus</i> oocytes to Z9-14:Ald. Responses are normalized by defining the maximal response as 100. EC50 = 4.338×10⁻⁶ M. Error bars indicate SEM (n = 6). (E) HarmOR6/HarmOR2 <i>Xenopus</i> oocytes stimulated with a range of Z9-16:Ald concentrations. (F) Dose–response curve of HarmOR6/HarmOR2 <i>Xenopus</i> oocytes to Z9-16:Ald. Responses are normalized by defining the maximal response as 100. EC50 = 3.531×10⁻⁶ M. Error bars indicate SEM (n = 6).</p

Phylogenetic tree of the <i>H. armigera</i> PRs and other lepidopterans ORs.

<p>Harm: <i>H. armigera</i> (red), Hvir: <i>H. virescens</i> (blue), Bmor: <i>B. mori</i> (black). The clade of PRs was masked by yellow shadow. The clade of Orco was masked by pink shadow.</p

Asymmetric Ratchet Effect for Directional Transport of Fog Drops on Static and Dynamic Butterfly Wings

Inspired by novel creatures, researchers have developed varieties of fog drop transport systems and made significant contributions to the fields of heat transferring, water collecting, antifogging, and so on. Up to now, most of the efforts in directional fog drop transport have been focused on static surfaces. Considering it is not practical to keep surfaces still all the time in reality, conducting investigations on surfaces that can transport fog drops in both static and dynamic states has become more and more important. Here we report the wings of <i>Morpho deidamia</i> butterflies can directionally transport fog drops in both static and dynamic states. This directional drop transport ability results from the micro/nano ratchet-like structure of butterfly wings: the surface of butterfly wings is composed of overlapped scales, and the scales are covered with porous asymmetric ridges. Influenced by this special structure, fog drops on static wings are transported directionally as a result of the fog drops’ asymmetric growth and coalescence. Fog drops on vibrating wings are propelled directionally due to the fog drops’ asymmetric dewetting from the wings

Amino acid sequence alignments of the <i>H. armigera</i> and <i>H. virescens</i> PRs.

<p>Predicted seven-transmembrance domains are identified with roman numbers. Amino acid numbering is given on the right of the alignment. Gaps in the alignment are indicated by a dash.</p

Tissue- and sex-specific expression of the <i>H. armigera</i> PRs.

<p>A: Expression of the <i>H. armigera</i> PRs in eight tissues of two sexes including antennae (A), heads (H), thoraxes (T), maxillary palps (MP), proboscises (PR), abdomens (AB), legs (L) and genitals (G). B: Comparison of PR expression between male and female antenna of <i>H.armigera</i>. Error bars indicate SE.</p

Responses of <i>Xenopus</i> oocytes with co-expressed HarmOR16/HarmOR2 to stimulation with pheromone compounds.

<p>(A) Inward current responses of HarmOR16/HarmOR2 <i>Xenopus</i> oocytes in response to 10⁻⁴ M solution of pheromone compounds. (B) Response profile of HarmOR16/HarmOR2 <i>Xenopus</i> oocytes. Error bars indicate SEM (n = 7). (C) HarmOR16/HarmOR2 <i>Xenopus</i> oocytes stimulated with a range of Z11-16:OH concentrations. (D) Dose–response curve of HarmOR16/HarmOR2 <i>Xenopus</i> oocytes to Z11-16:OH. Responses are normalized by defining the maximal response as 100. EC50 = 2.988×10⁻⁷ M. Error bars indicate SEM (n = 6).</p