Sensillar esterase (how moths smell to steer)

PNAS 27th Sept 2005: 102 (39): 14075-14079.
http://www.pnas.org/cgi/content/short/102/39/14075
http://www.pnas.org/cgi/reprint/102/39/14075

http://0-www.pnas.org.wam.leeds.ac.uk/cgi/content/short/102/39/14075

Rapid inactivation of a moth pheromone
Yuko Ishida and Walter S. Leal *
Maeda-Duffey Laboratory, Department of Entomology,
University of California, Davis, CA 95616
Edited by Wendell L. Roelofs, Cornell University, Geneva, NY and approved
August 16, 2005 (received for review June 27, 2005)

"We have isolated, cloned, and expressed a male antennae-specific pheromone-degrading enzyme (PDE) [Antheraea polyphemus PDE (ApolPDE), formerly known as Sensillar Esterase] from the wild silkmoth, A. polyphemus, which seems essential for the rapid inactivation of pheromone during flight.
...

"The rapid inactivation of pheromone, even faster than previously estimated, is kinetically compatible with the temporal resolution required for sustained odorant-mediated flight in moths.
...

"Our in vitro system demonstrates that stray pheromone molecules (like those dissociated from the odorant receptors) are rapidly degraded by ApolPDE. Thus, the moth olfactory system can be reset by PDEs while navigating through clean air spaces in a pheromone plume. "

Copyright: PNAS

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