An antennae‐enriched carboxylesterase from Spodoptera exigua displays degradation activity in both plant volatiles and female sex pheromones

Carboxyl/cholinesterase ( CCE ) is a large gene family of diverse functions, but in insects its function with respect to catabolism of sex pheromone components and plant volatiles is not well understood. In the present study, we cloned and functionally characterized one putative odorant‐degrading enzyme ( ODE ) of the CCE family, S exi CXE 14, from S podoptera exigua . The tissue‐temporal expression pattern revealed that the mRNA level of Sexi...