Odorant binding protein homologues of the malaria mosquito Anopheles gambiae;: Possible orthologues of the OS-E and OS-F OBPs of Drosophila melanogaster

Twenty-nine Anopheles gambiae candidate Odorant Binding Proteins (OBPs) were characterized for similarity to OBPs of Drosophila melanogaster and other insects. Twenty-five of these sequences were identified by BLAST searching the A. gambiae genome database. Several A. gambiae sequences were significantly similar to the D. melanogaster OBPs OS-E/OS-F, LUSH and PBPRP2/PBPRP5. Exon boundary comparisons suggests that two A. gambiae genes are orthologues of OS-E and OS-F, justifying the names AgamOS-E (EAAO 1090, AF437886) and AgamOS-F (EAA14641, AF437884). If these are orthologues, then the gene duplication establishing the OS-E and OSF lineages predated the divergence of mosquitoes and flies. The identification of orthologous OBPs and other chemosensory genes between D. melanogaster and A. gambiae should accelerate the transfer of physiological and behavioral information between these two species.