The chemoreceptor superfamily in the honey bee, Apis mellifera: Expansion of the odorant, but not gustatory, receptor family

• DOI: 10.1101/gr.5057506
• Publication Date: 2006-10-26T01:15:13Z
• Authors: Hugh M. Robertson; Kevin W. Wanner
• Keywords: Pseudogene; Melanogaster; Odorant-binding protein; Antennal lobe

The honey bee genome sequence reveals a remarkable expansion of the insect odorant receptor (Or) family relative to repertoires flies Drosophila melanogaster and Anopheles gambiae, which have 62 79 Ors respectively. A total 170 Or genes were annotated in bee, seven are pseudogenes. These constitute five bee-specific subfamilies an tree, one has expanded 157 encoding proteins with 15%-99% amino acid identity. Most tandem arrays, including 60 genes. This repertoire presumably underlies their olfactory abilities, perception several pheromone blends, kin recognition signals, diverse floral odors. number Apis mellifera is approximately equal glomeruli antennal lobe (160-170), consistent general one-receptor/one-neuron/one-glomerulus relationship. encodes just 10 gustatory receptors (Grs) compared D. A. gambiae 68 76 Grs, lack Gr gene primarily accounts for this difference. nurturing hive environment mutualistic relationship plants may explain expansion. most dramatic example genome, characterizing caste- sex-specific expression provide clues specific roles detection pheromone, kin,