The Colorado potato beetle (CPB) is among the most damaging pests of potato, yet among the most difficult to control because populations rapidly develop resistance to insecticides. One alternative method of control involves developing attractive odors that can monitor for, trap and kill, or otherwise manipulate the behavior of beetles in the field. We are investigating potential novel attractants by reverse-engineering the olfactory system of adult CPB and determining the function of the odorant receptors (ORs) that are expressed in the antennae. We annotated the OR genes of CPB following its genome project and subsequently refined their annotation and measured expression through antennal transcriptomes of both sexes.ORs were then targeted for knockdown by RNA interference, and loss of function measured through electroantennography. Our initial experiments have confirmed a functional knockdown of the olfactory receptor co-receptor (Orco) and yielded adult CPB that lack antennal sensitivity to odors. Ongoing experiments are now targeting highly expressed ORs that may detect pheromones or odors produced by potato foliage and feeding damage.
