Chemosensillum immunolocalization and ligand specificity of chemosensory proteins in the alfalfa plant bug Adelphocoris lineolatus (Goeze)

Insect chemosensory proteins (CSPs) are a family of small soluble proteins. To date, their physiological functions in insect olfaction remain largely controversial in comparison to odorant binding proteins (OBPs). In present study, we reported the antenna specific expression of three CSPs (AlinCSP4-6) from Adelphocoris lineolatus, their distinct chemosensillum distribution as well as ligand binding capability thus providing the evidence for the possible roles that they could play in semiochemical detection of the plant bug A. lineolatus. The results of qRT-PCR and western blot assay clearly showed that all of these three CSPs are highly expressed in the adult antennae, the olfactory organ of insects. Further cellular investigation of their immunolocalization revealed their dynamic protein expression profiles among different types of antennal sensilla. In a fluorescence competitive binding assay, the selective ligand binding was observed for AlinCSP4-6. In addition, a cooperative interaction was observed between two co-expressed CSPs resulting in an increase of the binding affinities by a mixture of AlinCSP5 and AlinCSP6 to terpenoids which do not bind to individual CSPs. These findings in combination with our previous data for AlinCSP1-3 indicate a possible functional differentiation of CSPs in the A. lineolatus olfactory system.