Odorant-Binding Protein Interactions with Herbivore-Induced Volatiles Drive Behavioral Attraction of Harmonia axyridis (Coleoptera: Coccinellidae) to Tuta Absoluta-Infested Tomato Plant
Tijjani Mustapha·Youming Hou·Jianquan Yan·Huatao Tang·Zhujun Wang·Sheng-Yen Wu Yen Wu·Abdul Basit·Yassir Boulaamane·Anshuman CHANDRA·Mai-Abba Ishiyaku Abdullahi·Moazam Hyder·Y. e Liang Zhang
<i>Tuta absoluta</i> severely constrains global tomato production. We investigated the behavioral attraction of <i>Harmonia axyridis</i> to infested plants and the molecular basis of herbivore-induced plant volatile (HIPV) recognition. Y-tube bioassays showed statistically significant attraction of <i>H. axyridis</i> to the infested plant (χ<sup>2</sup> = 13.72, <i>P</i> < 0.05). Molecular docking showed strong HaxyOBP-HIPV interactions, with predicted binding energies reaching -7.6 kl mol<sup>-