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| Open AccessSensorimotor transformation underlying odor-modulated locomotion in walking Drosophila
Animals find and stay close to resources by altering their locomotion in response to odors that signal resources. Here the authors identify, using Drosophila locomotion in response to odor, a simple strategy that adapts its motor program to sensory context automatically.
- Liangyu Tao
- , Samuel P. Wechsler
- & Vikas Bhandawat
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| Open AccessAggregation pheromones have a non-linear effect on oviposition behavior in Drosophila melanogaster
Drosophila larvae may benefit each other at lower densities but compete at higher densities. Here, Verschut et al. identify a mechanism enabling Drosophila females to favor egg-laying sites containing medium concentrations of aggregation pheromones, which may facilitate choice of favorable sites.
- Thomas A. Verschut
- , Renny Ng
- & Jean-Christophe Billeter
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| Open AccessA multivesicular body-like organelle mediates stimulus-regulated trafficking of olfactory ciliary transduction proteins
Odor stimuli are transduced in cilia of olfactory sensory neurons. Here the authors identify an odor stimulus-regulated organelle that specifically stores and releases transduction proteins in the dendrite.
- Devendra Kumar Maurya
- , Anna Berghard
- & Staffan Bohm
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| Open AccessImmature olfactory sensory neurons provide behaviourally relevant sensory input to the olfactory bulb
New olfactory sensory neurons (OSNs) wire into highly organized olfactory bulb circuits throughout life. Here, the authors show that immature OSNs provide behaviourally relevant sensory input to olfactory bulb neurons that is functionally distinct from that provided by mature OSNs.
- Jane S. Huang
- , Tenzin Kunkhyen
- & Claire E. J. Cheetham
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| Open AccessWAKE-mediated modulation of cVA perception via a hierarchical neuro-endocrine axis in Drosophila male-male courtship behaviour
The authors show that the Drosophila master regulator WAKE modulates the secretion of insulin-like peptides, triggering a decrease in 20-hydroxyecdysone levels. This lowers the perception of a male-specific sex pheromone and explains why WAKE-deficient Drosophila flies show male-male courtship behaviour.
- Shiu-Ling Chen
- , Bo-Ting Liu
- & Tsai-Feng Fu
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| Open AccessOlfactory expression of trace amine-associated receptors requires cooperative cis-acting enhancers
How olfactory sensory neurons express one allele of one TAAR gene is not well understood. Here the authors identify two cooperative cis-acting enhancers that govern TAAR gene choice and that share both similarities and differences with known olfactory enhancers.
- Ami Shah
- , Madison Ratkowski
- & Thomas Bozza
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| Open AccessCoordination of two enhancers drives expression of olfactory trace amine-associated receptors
In our nose, some neuron subpopulations express a family of trace amine associated receptors (TAARs, smelling e.g., rotten fish). Fei et al. identify two conserved enhancers across placental mammals named TAAR enhancer 1 and 2 that coordinately regulate expression of the entire Taar gene repertoire.
- Aimei Fei
- , Wanqing Wu
- & Qian Li
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Article
| Open AccessAntagonistic odor interactions in olfactory sensory neurons are widespread in freely breathing mice
Odor blends contain molecules that activate unique, overlapping populations of sensory neurons (OSNs). Here, by imaging OSN axon terminals, as well as their cell bodies within the olfactory epithelium, the authors find widespread antagonistic interactions in binary and complex odor mixtures.
- Joseph D. Zak
- , Gautam Reddy
- & Venkatesh N. Murthy
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Article
| Open AccessThe evolution of sexual signaling is linked to odorant receptor tuning in perfume-collecting orchid bees
Male orchid bees collect scents from the environment to attract females for mating. Here, Brand et al. combine population genomic, perfume chemistry, and functional analyses to show how divergence in odorant receptor genes may be driving reproductive divergence between two orchid bee species.
- Philipp Brand
- , Ismael A. Hinojosa-Díaz
- & Santiago R. Ramírez
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Article
| Open AccessCo-option of neurotransmitter signaling for inter-organismal communication in C. elegans
Inter-organismal signaling is essential for animals to navigate and survive in their natural environment, yet is unclear how these chemical communication channels may have evolved. Here, authors show that TYRA-2, an endogenous tyramine/octopamine receptor, is required for the chemosensation of an octopamine-derived pheromone and that this signaling system represents an inter-organismal communication channel that evolved via co-option of a neurotransmitter and its cognate receptor
- Christopher D. Chute
- , Elizabeth M. DiLoreto
- & Jagan Srinivasan
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| Open AccessAsymmetric ephaptic inhibition between compartmentalized olfactory receptor neurons
In Drosophila antenna, an unusual non-synaptic form of lateral inhibition occurs between subtypes of compartmentalized olfactory receptor neurons (ORNs). Here, authors show that direct electrical (ephaptic) interactions mediate lateral inhibition between ORNs, with physically larger ORNs dominating ephaptic interactions.
- Ye Zhang
- , Tin Ki Tsang
- & Chih-Ying Su
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Article
| Open AccessSex separation induces differences in the olfactory sensory receptor repertoires of male and female mice
Olfactory experience can alter the relative abundance of neurons expressing specific chemoreceptors. Here, the authors demonstrate that the distinct odor experiences of sex-separated male and female mice induce sex-specific differences in the abundance of neurons that detect sexually dimorphic odors.
- Carl van der Linden
- , Susanne Jakob
- & Stephen W. Santoro
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| Open AccessOlfactory receptor OR2AT4 regulates human hair growth
Increasing evidence suggest that olfactory receptors can carry additional functions besides olfaction. Here, Chéret et al. show that stimulation of the olfactory receptor ORT2A4 by the odorant Sandalore® stimulates growth of human scalp hair follicles ex vivo, suggesting the use of ORT2A4-targeting odorants as hair growth-promoting agents.
- Jérémy Chéret
- , Marta Bertolini
- & Ralf Paus
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| Open AccessSingle olfactory receptors set odor detection thresholds
Odorous chemicals broadly activate subsets of olfactory receptors in the nose, but how individual receptors contribute to behavioral sensitivity is not clear. Here, the authors demonstrate that detection thresholds in mice are set solely by the highest affinity receptor for a given odorant.
- Adam Dewan
- , Annika Cichy
- & Thomas Bozza
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| Open AccessOdor-evoked inhibition of olfactory sensory neurons drives olfactory perception in Drosophila
It is well established that odor-evoked excitation in olfactory sensory neurons (OSNs) encodes odor information. Here the authors report that odor-evoked inhibition in OSNs of Drosophila also encodes odor identity, and can in itself drive both attraction and avoidance behaviors.
- Li-Hui Cao
- , Dong Yang
- & Dong-Gen Luo
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| Open AccessA long-range cis-regulatory element for class I odorant receptor genes
“Each olfactory sensory neuron expresses a single odorant receptor gene from either class I or class II genes. Here, the authors identify an enhancer for mouse class I genes, that is highly conserved, and regulates most class I genes expression by acting over ~ 3 megabases within the whole cluster.”
- Tetsuo Iwata
- , Yoshihito Niimura
- & Junji Hirota
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| Open AccessSpecialized odorant receptors in social insects that detect cuticular hydrocarbon cues and candidate pheromones
Cuticular hydrocarbons (CHC) mediate the interactions between individuals in eusocial insects, but the sensory receptors for CHCs are unclear. Here the authors show that in ants such as H. saltator, the 9-exon subfamily of odorant receptors (HsOrs) responds to CHCs, and ectopic expression of HsOrs in Drosophila neurons imparts responsiveness to CHCs.
- Gregory M. Pask
- , Jesse D. Slone
- & Anandasankar Ray
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| Open AccessImmobility responses are induced by photoactivation of single glomerular species responsive to fox odour TMT
The olfactory bulb is arranged in glomeruli defined by their olfactory receptor expression. The authors identify an olfactory receptor for fox odour, TMT, and show that activation of the glomerulus expressing that receptor in mice leads to immobility, but does not lead to other fear behaviours.
- Harumi Saito
- , Hirofumi Nishizumi
- & Hitoshi Sakano
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| Open AccessFunctional evolution of Lepidoptera olfactory receptors revealed by deorphanization of a moth repertoire
The range of odours that an insect can detect depends on its olfactory receptors. Here, the authors functionally characterize the olfactory receptor repertoire of the mothSpodoptera littoralis using the Drosophilaempty neuron system and reconstruct the evolution of these receptors in the Lepidoptera.
- Arthur de Fouchier
- , William B. Walker III
- & Emmanuelle Jacquin-Joly
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| Open AccessOrganization of olfactory centres in the malaria mosquito Anopheles gambiae
Mosquitoes use olfactory cues to locate their host. Here, Riabinina et al. use genetic labelling of olfactory receptor neurons in the malaria vector Anopheles gambiaeto show that these neurons project to the antennal lobe, a known insect olfactory centre, and the subesophageal zone, a region previously linked to gustatory processing.
- Olena Riabinina
- , Darya Task
- & Christopher J. Potter
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| Open AccessApplying medicinal chemistry strategies to understand odorant discrimination
Understanding the basis of odour perception and discrimination is a challenging task, due to the inherent complexity of the olfactory system. Here, the authors use a medicinal chemistry approach to derive biologically relevant rules for odorant classification.
- Erwan Poivet
- , Zita Peterlin
- & Stuart Firestein
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Muscarinic acetylcholine receptor M3 modulates odorant receptor activity via inhibition of β-arrestin-2 recruitment
Type three muscarinic acetylcholine receptors (M3-Rs) physically interact with olfactory receptors to potentiate odour-induced responses. Here, the authors demonstrate that acetylcholine potentiates odour-induced responses in olfactory sensory neurons via M3-R-mediated inhibition of β-arrestin-2 recruitment.
- Yue Jiang
- , Yun Rose Li
- & Hiroaki Matsunami
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Amino acid coevolution reveals three-dimensional structure and functional domains of insect odorant receptors
The structure of insect odorant receptors (ORs) has remained elusive due to their lack of homology to other proteins and the inability to obtain OR crystals. Here, the authors use amino acid evolutionary covariation patterns to fold these proteins de novoand generate the first three-dimensional models of insect ORs.
- Thomas A. Hopf
- , Satoshi Morinaga
- & Richard Benton