An odorant receptor from Anopheles sinensis in China is sensitive to oviposition attractants

Background Anopheles sinensis is an important vector for the spread of malaria in China. Olfactory-related behaviours, particularly oviposition site seeking, offer opportunities for disrupting the disease-transmission process. Results This is the first report of the identification and characterization of AsinOrco and AsinOR10 in An. sinensis. AsinOrco and AsinOR10 share 97.49% and 90.37% amino acid sequence identity, respectively, with related sequences in Anopheles gambiae. A functional analysis demonstrated that AsinOrco- and AsinOR10-coexpressing HEK293 cells were highly sensitive to 3-methylindole, but showed no significant differences in response to other test odorants when compared to DMSO. Conclusions AsinOrco was characterized as a new member of the Orco ortholog subfamily. AsinOR10, which appears to be a member of the OR2-10 subfamily, is directly involved in identification of oviposition sites. This finding will help to elucidate the molecular mechanisms underlying olfactory signaling in An. sinensis and provide many more molecular targets for eco-friendly pest control. Electronic supplementary material The online version of this article (10.1186/s12936-018-2501-4) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.