Two Remarkable Sense Organs

The Physiology of Sense Organs

to the non-sporeforming anaerobes (Bacteroidaceae, anaerobic cocci, Lacto-bacteria and Corynebacteria, Actinomycetes). The book by Smith and Holdeman, published as part of the American Lecture Series in Clinical Microbiology, fills a void. Both authors have been working in the Anaerobic Bacteriology Laboratory at the Virginia Polytechnic Institute for years and draw on extensive experience, par...

Making sense of the role of sense organs in trichotillomania

The labyrinthine sense organs of the frog.

A study of the macula and crista organs of the frog's labyrinth with the use of an improved method of histological preparation has shown these endings to be more complex than heretofore believed. The structure lying over the layer of sensory and supporting cells is not a single "gelatinous" body as commonly described, but consists of two distinct layers with separate functions. In all these end...

Positive circuits and two-dimensional spatial differentiation: Application to the formation of sense organs in Drosophila

We discuss a rule proposed by the biologist R.Thomas according to which the possibility for a genetic network (represented by a signed directed graph called a regulatory graph) to have several stable states implies the existence of a positive circuit. This result is already known for different models but always with a network of genes contained in a single cell. We consider here the genetics in...

Evidence for distinct signaling mechanisms in two mammalian olfactory sense organs.

In mammals, olfactory stimuli are detected by sensory neurons at two distinct sites: the olfactory epithelium (OE) of the nasal cavity and the neuroepithelium of the vomeronasal organ (VNO). While the OE can detect volatile chemicals released from numerous sources, the VNO appears to be specialized to detect pheromones that are emitted by other animals and that convey information of behavioral ...