Involvement of the G-Protein-Coupled Dopamine/Ecdysteroid Receptor DopEcR in the Behavioral Response to Sex Pheromone in an Insect
Figure 4
Effect of AipsDopEcR silencing by injection of dsRNA on the oriented responses to the sex pheromone (A) and on general flight activity (B) in A. ipsilon males.
1-day-old sexually immature males were injected with saline solution, bacterial LacZ-dsRNA or AipsDopEcR-dsRNA, or received no injection (non-injected). For each treatment, the percentage of oriented or random flight activity was evaluated 4 days after injection in wind tunnel experiments. A) Oriented responses (partial flight+complete flight+landing). AipsDopEcR-dsRNA injection induces a significant inhibition of oriented upwind flight towards the sex pheromone in sexually mature male moths. B) General flight activity (oriented responses+random flights). Locomotor behavior is not affected by AipsDopEcR-dsRNA injection. Numbers in brackets indicate numbers of tested males. Bars with same letters are not significantly different (G-test; P≤0.05).