A Highly Expressed Pheromone Receptor in the Male and Female Antennae of <i>Helicoverpa armigera</i> Is Tuned to Plant Volatiles

The majority of pheromone receptors (PRs) in the cotton bollworm <i>Helicoverpa armigera</i> have been deorphanized, but the function of HarmOR11, a PR highly expressed in both male and female antennae, has remained controversial. We expressed HarmOR11 in <i>Drosophila</i> T1 neurons and found that the neurons respond to plant volatiles benzyl acetate, methyl phenylacetate, and methyl benzoate. When we knocked out HarmOR11 by CRISPR-Cas9, the type A sensilla on the male antennae lost responsiveness to all the three compounds and the enhancing effect of the three compounds on behavioral responses of males toward the sex pheromone disappeared; the trichoid sensilla on female antennae responsive to all the three compounds, originally accounting for 15.38% on wild-type antennae, were no longer responsive, and female preference for oviposition in proximity to these compounds significantly decreased. The discovery advances understanding of PR function evolution and provides new opportunities for enhancing the attractiveness of pheromone traps.