Transcriptome and Tissue-specific Expression Analysis of Obp and Csp Genes in the Dark Black Chafer

The dark black chafer, Holotrichia parallela, is an economically important pest in China and worldwide. Traps based on chemical communication are being developed as an alternative control measure to pesticides for this pest, and studies to reveal chemical communication mechanisms in this pest are highly desirable. To systematically analyze genes potentially involved in chemical communication in this pest, we generated a comprehensive transcriptome with combined samples derived from multiple tissues and developmental stages. A total of 43,967 nonredundant sequences (unigenes) with average length of 806 bp were obtained. These unigenes were annotated into different pathways using gene ontology analysis and cluster analysis of orthologous groups of proteins, and kyoto encyclopedia of genes and genomes. In total, 25 transcripts encoding odorant-binding proteins (OBPs) and 16 transcripts encoding chemosensory proteins (CSPs) were identified based on homology searches. Tissue-specific expression profile indicates that OBP17 and CSP7 are likely responsible for male sex pheromone recognition, whereas OBP1-4, OBP9, OBP13-14, OBP17-18, OBP20, OBP22, OBP25, CSP1-7, CSP11, and CSP12-15 are likely responsible for chemical communication between the beetle and environments. Our data shall provide a foundation for further research on the molecular aspects of chemical communication of this insect, and for comparative genomic studies with other species.