Odorant detection in a locust exhibits unusually low redundancy.
Curr Biol
; 33(24): 5427-5438.e5, 2023 12 18.
Article
in En
| MEDLINE
| ID: mdl-38070506
ABSTRACT
Olfactory coding, from insects to humans, is canonically considered to involve considerable across-fiber coding already at the peripheral level, thereby allowing recognition of vast numbers of odor compounds. We show that the migratory locust has evolved an alternative strategy built on highly specific odorant receptors feeding into a complex primary processing center in the brain. By collecting odors from food and different life stages of the locust, we identified 205 ecologically relevant odorants, which we used to deorphanize 48 locust olfactory receptors via ectopic expression in Drosophila. Contrary to the often broadly tuned olfactory receptors of other insects, almost all locust receptors were found to be narrowly tuned to one or very few ligands. Knocking out a single receptor using CRISPR abolished physiological and behavioral responses to the corresponding ligand. We conclude that the locust olfactory system, with most olfactory receptors being narrowly tuned, differs from the so-far described olfactory systems.
Key words
Full text:
1
Collection:
01-internacional
Database:
MEDLINE
Main subject:
Receptors, Odorant
/
Olfactory Receptor Neurons
/
Grasshoppers
Limits:
Animals
/
Humans
Language:
En
Journal:
Curr Biol
Journal subject:
BIOLOGIA
Year:
2023
Type:
Article