Functional differentiation of two general‐odorant binding proteins in Hyphantria cunea (Drury) (Lepidoptera: Erebidae)

General odor-binding proteins (GOBPs) play critical roles in insect olfactory recognition of sex pheromones and plant volatiles. Therefore, the identification of GOBPs in Hyphantria cunea (Drury) based on their characterization to pheromone components and plant volatiles is remain unknown.In this study, two H. cunea (HcunGOBPs) genes were cloned, and their expression profiles and odorant binding characteristics were systematically analyzed. Firstly, the tissue expression study showed that both HcunGOBP1 and HcunGOBP2 were highly expressed in the antennae of both sexes, indicating their potential involvement in the perception of sex pheromones. Secondly, these two HcunGOBPs genes were expressed in Escherichia coli and ligand binding assays were used to assess the binding affinities to its sex pheromone components including two aldehydes and two epoxides, and some plant volatiles. HcunGOBP2 showed high binding affinities to two aldehyde components (Z9, Z12, Z15-18Ald and Z9, Z12-18Ald), and showed low binding affinities to two epoxide components (1, Z3, Z6-9S, 10R-epoxy-21Hy and Z3, Z6-9S, 10R-epoxy-21Hy), whereas HcunGOBP1 showed weak but significant binding to all four sex pheromone components. Furthermore, both HcunGOBPs demonstrated variable binding affinities to the plant volatiles tested. Thirdly, in silico studies of HcunGOBPs utilized homology, structure modeling, and molecular docking revealed critical hydrophobic residues might be involved in the binding of HcunGOBPs to their sex pheromone components and plant volatiles.Our study suggests that these two HcunGOBPs may serve as potential targets for future studies of HcunGOBPs ligand binding, providing insight in the mechanism of olfaction in H. cunea. © 2023 Society of Chemical Industry.