Anastrepha ludens antenna proteome

Anastrepha ludens (Loew) is one of the most important pestiferous fruit fly species infesting citrus and mangoes from Texas to Costa Rica. Despite the latter, the mechanisms of odorant perception in this specie have been poorly studied. In most of the cases, the detection of semiochemicals in insects is carried out in the antenna, where volatile molecules penetrate sensillum pores and they are linked to soluble proteins to cross the lymph until reaching specific odor receptor triggering the signal transduction which can lead to a behavioral response. Scrutinizing the molecular foundation of odorant perception in A. ludens is of paramount importance to increase the efficiency of Integrated Management strategies against this pest. We carried out a proteomic profiling of A. ludens’s antennas with three different maturity stages using Nano-LC-MS/MS. We identified 4618 unique proteins in the antennas of A. ludens across maturity stages. The core proteome of 1697 IDs featured proteins associated with odor perception including odorant-binding proteins (OBP), calcium signaling related proteins, the universal odorant co-receptor Orco and putative odorant-degrading enzymes (ODE).