The vomeronasal system is one of several fine-tuned scent-detecting signaling systems in mammals. However, despite significant efforts, how these receptors detect scent remains an enigma. One reason is the lack of sufficient purified receptors to perform detailed biochemical, biophysical and structural analyses. Here we report the ability to express and purify milligrams of purified, functional...

A stochastic competitive evolutionary neural tree (SCENT) is described and evaluated against the best neural classifiers with equivalent functionality, using a collection of data sets chosen to provide a variety of clustering scenarios. SCENT is firstly shown to produce flat classifications at least as well as the other two neural classifiers used. Moreover its variability in performance over t...

Recognition of individuals by scent is widespread across animal taxa. Though animals can often discriminate chemical blends based on many compounds, recent work shows that specific protein pheromones are necessary and sufficient for individual recognition via scent marks in mice. The genetic nature of individuality in scent marks (e.g. coding versus regulatory variation) and the evolutionary pr...

Floral scent, which is determined by a complex mixture of low molecular weight volatile molecules, plays a major role in the plant’s life cycle. Phenylpropanoid volatiles are the main determinants of floral scent in petunia (Petunia hybrida). A screen using virus-induced gene silencing for regulators of scent production in petunia flowers yielded a novel R2R3-MYB–like regulatory factor of pheny...

Scent marking of profitable food sources improves foraging efficiency and helps social bees meet colony demands for unpredictable floral resources (Giurfa and Núñez, 1992). Sophisticated marking has evolved in the stingless bees (Apidae, Meliponini); several genera recruit nestmates to profitable food sources with scent signals (reviewed in Nieh, 2004). Scent cues such as “footprints” (Wilms an...

The scent gland secretions of Dumeril's ground boa (Acrantophis dumerili), pooled from two adult males and a female, were analyzed by gas chromatography-mass spectrometry. 2-Hydroxy-propanoic acid, hexadecanoic acid, cis-9-octadecenoic acid, octadecanoic acid, cholesterol, and 5-cholesten-3-one were indicated. These results are compared with those obtained in analyses of the scent gland secreti...

Autism is a neurodevelopmental disorder with a strong genetic component. Core symptoms are abnormal reciprocal social interactions, qualitative impairments in communication, and repetitive and stereotyped patterns of behavior with restricted interests. Candidate genes for autism include the SHANK gene family, as mutations in SHANK2 and SHANK3 have been detected in several autistic individuals. ...

Although it is well-known that defective signaling of the 5-HT system in the brain and stressful stimuli can cause psychological disorders, their combined effects on male-male aggression and sexual attractiveness remain unknown. Our research aimed at examining such effects using tryptophan hydroxylase 2 (Tph2) knockout male mice vs. a rat- or rat scent-based chronic stress model. Tph2(+/+) and ...

The radiation of the angiosperms is often attributed to repeated evolutionary shifts between different pollinators, as this process drives diversification of floral forms and can lead to reproductive isolation. Floral scent is an important functional trait in many pollination systems but has seldom been implicated as a key mechanism in pollinator transitions. In this study, we suggest a role fo...

 Introduction  After birth, many infants were in hospital undergo repeated invasive procedures and because there is increasing evidence of short-term and long-term adverse neurodevelopment consequences, pain management in neonates is very important. Methods and Materials This was a quasi experimental study of clinical trial type that carried out on 80 term neonate that were allocated to two int...