Our knowledge of the molecular basis of odorant reception in insects has grown exponentially
over the past decade. Odorant receptors (ORs) from moths, fruit flies, mosquitoes, and the …

… For example, bovine serum albumin (BSA) binds to insect pheromones (Leal, unpublished
… insect antennae have been previously detected (Ishida and Leal, unpublished data). Also, a …

… to their own pheromones in the field, but the number of captured females, though significantly
higher than in control traps, is much smaller than the number of captured males (WS Leal, …

Background: Insects use volatile organic molecules to communicate messages with remarkable
sensitivity and specificity. In one of the most studied systems, female silkworm moths (…

The insect repellent DEET is effective against a variety of medically important pests, but its
mode of action still draws considerable debate. The widely accepted hypothesis that DEET …

Odorants are transmitted by small hydrophobic molecules that cross the aqueous sensillar
lymph surrounding the dendrites of the olfactory neurons to stimulate the olfactory receptors. …

West Nile virus, which is transmitted by Culex mosquitoes while feeding on birds and humans,
has emerged as the dominant vector borne disease in North America. We have identified …

The pheromone-binding protein (PBP) fromBombyx mori was expressed in Escherichia
coliperiplasm. It specifically bound radiolabeled bombykol, the natural pheromone for this …

… In BmPBP, this was demonstrated both by the circular dichroism spectrum [22] and predictions
(53% α-helical) based on curve fitting of the CD data (Miyazawa and Leal, unpublished …

Zika virus (ZIKV) is a flavivirus that has recently been associated with an increased
incidence of neonatal microcephaly and other neurological disorders. The virus is primarily …