De novo assembly and identification of antennal transcriptome reveals an olfactory system in Heortia vitessoides (Lepidoptera: Crambidae)

Olfactory systems in insects are used to detect volatile chemical odors, and play crucial roles in survival, reproduction, and mediating key behaviors. Here, RNA sequencing technology was used to sequence and assemble the antennal transcriptome of Heortia vitessoides , a defoliating pest in Aquilaria sinensis (Loureiro) Sprenger forests and a non-model species with no genomic resources. Analysis of the transcriptome of female and male antennae generated 22.16 gigabases of genomic data, from which 52,383 unigenes were assembled. We identified 80 candidate olfactory genes: eight for odorant binding proteins (OBPs), 14 for chemosensory proteins (CSPs), 35 odorant receptors (ORs), 18 ionotropic receptors (IRs), three gustatory receptors (GRs), and two for sensory neuron membrane proteins (SNMPs). Furthermore, phylogenetic trees and fragments per kilobase of transcript per million fragments mapped (FPKM) were used to analyze these olfactory genes. This study is the first comprehensive antennal transcriptome analysis for H. vitessoides, and these novel olfactory genes will increase understanding of the molecular mechanism of chemoreception and further contribute to exploring strategies to manage this insect.