Insects rely on olfactory cues for necessary daily activities, such as searching for food and evading predation. In social insects, such as ants, olfaction plays essential roles in communication, colony organization, and identification of nestmates. Odorant receptors (ORs), mainly expressed by antennal odorant receptor neurons (ORNs), are responsible for the initial detection of airborne odorants. ORs form cation channels with a universal obligate co-receptor, Orco. Ants of the species Harpegnathos saltator with a knockout mutation in orco lack functional channels, exhibit brain malformation, and do not express most ORs as adults. Our data illustrates that most antennal neurons undergo widespread apoptosis mid-way through the pupal stage of mutant development. However, around 10% of ORs are expressed in adult mutants, suggesting that unknown mechanism(s) may be conveying protection to select ORs that would otherwise cease expression during mutant development. Here, we explore pupal development in H. saltator, attempting to elucidate the molecular events underlying ORN survival and development and how orco mutants differ in these regards from their wild-type counterparts.
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