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bioRxiv · 10.1101/444729

Nanopore formation in the cuticle of the insect olfactory sensillum

Ando, T.·Sekine, S.·Inagaki, S.·Misaki, K.·Badel, L.·Morita, H.·Mustafa, S. M.·Chihara, T.·Kazama, H.·Yonemura, S.·Hayashi, S.
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Abstract

Insects sense odorants through small (50-200-nm diameter) pores in the cuticle covering the olfactory sensilla. These nanopores serve as a filter, preventing the entry of larger airborne particles and limiting water loss. Here we show that the nanopores in Drosophila originate from a curved ultrathin film formed in the outermost layer of the cuticle, secreted from specialized plasma membrane protrusions. The gore-tex/Osiris23 gene, encoding an endosomal protein, is required for nanopore formation and odor receptivity, and is expressed specifically in developing olfactory shaft cells. The 24-member Osiris gene family is expressed in various cuticle-secreting cells, and is found only in insect genomes. Some Osiris mutants show defective cuticle-associated functions, suggesting that Osiris genes may provide a platform for investigating functional surface nano-fabrication in insects.\n\nOne Sentence SummaryAn insect-specific endosomal protein promotes the formation of nano-scale pore structures of the apical extracellular matrix.

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Ando, T., Sekine, S., Inagaki, S., Misaki, K., Badel, L., Morita, H., Mustafa, S. M., Chihara, T., Kazama, H., Yonemura, S., Hayashi, S.. 2018-10-16. Nanopore formation in the cuticle of the insect olfactory sensillum. https://doi.org/10.1101/444729

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