Expression Analysis of Odorant-Binding Protein Genes and Chemosensory Protein Genes in Anomala corpulenta Motschulsky (Coleoptera: Scarabaeidae)

ABSTRACT: Anomala corpulenta is an insect pest that is widely distributed in China, and it can cause large economic losses in agriculture, horticulture, and forestry. It is difficult to control because most of the lifecycle is underground. Trapping adults would be an environmentally sustainable way to reduce damage caused by this insect. Odorant-binding proteins (OBPs) and chemosensory proteins (CSPs) are considered to be important chemodetection proteins. In this study, we investigate the expression of odorant-binding protein genes and chemosensory protein genes in different tissues of the adult and other developmental stages. The antenna had the highest expression levels for OBPs and CSPs of all tissues, except for OBP7 which was most highly expressed in the head without antenna. Besides the antenna, the head without antenna had the next highest expression levels for all OBP and CSP genes. The expression of OBP2, OBP3, OBP14, and CSP in the adult was higher than in other stages, while, OBP7 was lower than in other stages. Before estimating the expression of OBPs and CSPs, seven candidate reference genes were tested for stability among the tissues of adult and other development stages. GAPDH was the best reference gene in different tissues of the adult, and RPL13a was the best reference gene in different development stages. Our results provide a foundation for further research on the molecular aspects of chemical communication of this insect.