scholarly journals Olfaction written in bone: cribriform plate size parallels olfactory receptor gene repertoires in Mammalia

2018 ◽  
Vol 285 (1874) ◽  
pp. 20180100 ◽  
Author(s):  
Deborah J. Bird ◽  
William J. Murphy ◽  
Lester Fox-Rosales ◽  
Iman Hamid ◽  
Robert A. Eagle ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Body Size ◽  
Olfactory Receptor ◽  
Receptor Gene ◽  
Measurement Data ◽  
Cribriform Plate ◽  
Digital Measurement ◽  
Olfactory Pathway ◽  
Skull Morphology ◽  
Plate Size ◽  
Discrete Population

The evolution of mammalian olfaction is manifested in a remarkable diversity of gene repertoires, neuroanatomy and skull morphology across living species. Olfactory receptor genes (ORGs), which initiate the conversion of odorant molecules into odour perceptions and help an animal resolve the olfactory world, range in number from a mere handful to several thousand genes across species. Within the snout, each of these ORGs is exclusively expressed by a discrete population of olfactory sensory neurons (OSNs), suggesting that newly evolved ORGs may be coupled with new OSN populations in the nasal epithelium. Because OSN axon bundles leave high-fidelity perforations (foramina) in the bone as they traverse the cribriform plate (CP) to reach the brain, we predicted that taxa with larger ORG repertoires would have proportionately expanded footprints in the CP foramina. Previous work found a correlation between ORG number and absolute CP size that disappeared after accounting for body size. Using updated, digital measurement data from high-resolution CT scans and re-examining the relationship between CP and body size, we report a striking linear correlation between relative CP area and number of functional ORGs across species from all mammalian superorders. This correlation suggests strong developmental links in the olfactory pathway between genes, neurons and skull morphology. Furthermore, because ORG number is linked to olfactory discriminatory function, this correlation supports relative CP size as a viable metric for inferring olfactory capacity across modern and extinct species. By quantifying CP area from a fossil sabertooth cat ( Smilodon fatalis ), we predicted a likely ORG repertoire for this extinct felid.

scholarly journals The isotopic niche of Atlantic, biting marine mammals and its relationship to skull morphology and body size

2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Massimiliano Drago ◽  
Marco Signaroli ◽  
Meica Valdivia ◽  
Enrique M. González ◽  
Asunción Borrell ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Body Size ◽  
Atlantic Ocean ◽  
Fisheries Management ◽  
Marine Mammals ◽  
Trophic Position ◽  
Sympatric Species ◽  
Isotopic Niche ◽  
Apex Predators ◽  
Skull Morphology ◽  
Ecosystem Based Fisheries Management

AbstractUnderstanding the trophic niches of marine apex predators is necessary to understand interactions between species and to achieve sustainable, ecosystem-based fisheries management. Here, we review the stable carbon and nitrogen isotope ratios for biting marine mammals inhabiting the Atlantic Ocean to test the hypothesis that the relative position of each species within the isospace is rather invariant and that common and predictable patterns of resource partitioning exists because of constrains imposed by body size and skull morphology. Furthermore, we analyze in detail two species-rich communities to test the hypotheses that marine mammals are gape limited and that trophic position increases with gape size. The isotopic niches of species were highly consistent across regions and the topology of the community within the isospace was well conserved across the Atlantic Ocean. Furthermore, pinnipeds exhibited a much lower diversity of isotopic niches than odontocetes. Results also revealed body size as a poor predictor of the isotopic niche, a modest role of skull morphology in determining it, no evidence of gape limitation and little overlap in the isotopic niche of sympatric species. The overall evidence suggests limited trophic flexibility for most species and low ecological redundancy, which should be considered for ecosystem-based fisheries management.

Differing from diseased stage in melanoma, the olfactory receptor gene OR56A4 is expressed

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Bronte Morse ◽  
Kobi Decker
Keyword(s):  
Breast Cancer ◽  
Cancer Patients ◽  
Olfactory Receptor ◽  
Receptor Gene ◽  
Stage I ◽  
Stage Ii ◽  
Stage Iii ◽  
Olfactory Receptor Gene ◽  
Breast Cancer Patients ◽  
Receptor Family

We have compared the global profiles of 100 tumors in Stage I, II and III with two independently releasedmicroarray datasets in order to understand their transcriptional behaviors accompanying a progression in breastcancer (1, 2). The olfactive receptor, family 56, subfamily A, member 4 OR56A4, was discovered to have beenone of the genes with the most varied expression when comparing initial tumors in stage I, stage II, and stageIII of breast cancer patients. In the stage III tumors, OR56A4 expression in comparison to the stage I tumorswas lower.

Spatially Organized Response Zones in Rat Olfactory Epithelium

1997 ◽  
Vol 77 (4) ◽  
pp. 1950-1962 ◽  
Author(s):  
John W. Scott ◽  
Donna E. Shannon ◽  
Jeff Charpentier ◽  
Lisa M. Davis ◽  
Craig Kaplan
Keyword(s):  
Gene Expression ◽  
Functional Groups ◽  
Olfactory Epithelium ◽  
Olfactory Receptor ◽  
Receptor Gene ◽  
Chemical Properties ◽  
Receptor Expression ◽  
Response Distribution ◽  
Chemical Structures ◽  
Four Electrodes

Scott, John W., Donna E. Shannon, Jeff Charpentier, Lisa M. Davis, and Craig Kaplan. Spatially organized response zones in rat olfactory epithelium. J. Neurophysiol. 77: 1950–1962, 1997. Electroolfactogram recordings were made with a four-electrode assembly from the olfactory epithelium overlying the endoturbinate bones facing the nasal septum. In this study we tested whether odors of different chemical structures produce maximal responses along longitudinally oriented regions following the olfactory receptor gene expression zones described in the literature. The distribution of responses along the dorsal-to-ventral direction of this epithelium (i.e., across the expression zones) was tested in two types of experiments. In one, four electrodes were fixed along the dorsal-to-ventral axis of one turbinate bone. In the other, four electrodes were placed in corresponding positions on four turbinate bones and moved together up toward the top of the bone. These experiments compared the odorants limonene and α-terpinene, which are simple hydrocarbons, with carvone and menthone, which differ from the hydrocarbons by the presence of ketone groups. All responses were standardized to an amyl acetate or ethyl butyrate standard. The responses to limonene and α-terpinene were often larger for the ventral electrodes. The responses to carvone and menthone were largest for the dorsal electrodes. Intermediate electrodes gave responses that were intermediate in amplitude for these odors. The possibility that direction of air flow caused the observed response distributions was directly tested in experiments with odor nozzles placed in two positions. The relatively larger dorsal responses to carvone and relatively larger ventral responses to limonene were present despite odor nozzle position. We conclude that the responses to this set of odors vary systematically in a fashion parallel to the four gene expression zones. The odorant property that governs this response distribution may be related to the presence of oxygen-containing functional groups. Certain odors evoked larger responses at the intermediate electrode sites than at other sites. Cineole was the best example of this effect. This observation shows that not all oxygen-containing functional groups produce the same effect. Although we cannot exclude other possible mechanisms, these three response gradients may be produced by the four receptor expression zones described for many of the putative olfactory receptor genes. Therefore many of the receptors in each zone may share common properties. It remains to be determined whether this zonal input is significant in central odor processing. However, the correlation of odor chemical properties with the structure of receptor molecules in each zone may provide significant leads to structure-function relationships in vertebrate olfaction.

The olfactory receptor gene superfamily: data mining, classification, and nomenclature

2000 ◽  
Vol 11 (11) ◽  
pp. 1016-1023 ◽  
Author(s):  
Gustavo Glusman ◽  
Anita Bahar ◽  
Dror Sharon ◽  
Yitzhak Pilpel ◽  
Julia White ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Data Mining ◽  
Olfactory Receptor ◽  
Receptor Gene ◽  
Olfactory Receptor Gene

Genome Dynamics, Evolution, and Protein Modeling in the Olfactory Receptor Gene Superfamilya

1998 ◽  
Vol 855 (1 OLFACTION AND) ◽  
pp. 182-193 ◽  
Author(s):  
DROR SHARON ◽  
GUSTAVO GLUSMAN ◽  
YITZHAK PILPEL ◽  
SHIRLEY HORN-SABARN ◽  
DORON LANCET
Keyword(s):  
Olfactory Receptor ◽  
Receptor Gene ◽  
Protein Modeling ◽  
Olfactory Receptor Gene ◽  
Genome Dynamics

scholarly journals Canine Olfactory Receptor Gene Polymorphism and Its Relation to Odor Detection Performance by Sniffer Dogs

2008 ◽  
Vol 99 (5) ◽  
pp. 518-527 ◽  
Author(s):  
A. Lesniak ◽  
M. Walczak ◽  
T. Jezierski ◽  
M. Sacharczuk ◽  
M. Gawkowski ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Gene Polymorphism ◽  
Olfactory Receptor ◽  
Receptor Gene ◽  
Detection Performance ◽  
Olfactory Receptor Gene ◽  
Odor Detection ◽  
Receptor Gene Polymorphism

scholarly journals Natural Selection on the Olfactory Receptor Gene Family in Humans and Chimpanzees

2003 ◽  
Vol 73 (3) ◽  
pp. 489-501 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yoav Gilad ◽  
Carlos D. Bustamante ◽  
Doron Lancet ◽  
Svante Pääbo
Keyword(s):  
Natural Selection ◽  
Gene Family ◽  
Olfactory Receptor ◽  
Receptor Gene ◽  
Olfactory Receptor Gene ◽  
Receptor Gene Family
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