Culex quinquefasciatus, the southern house mosquito, is highly dependent on its olfactory system for vector-related activities such as host seeking and oviposition. The antennae are the primary olfactory organs in mosquitoes. We describe 5 morphological types of sensilla on the antenna of C. quinquefasciatus: 1) a pair of sensilla coeloconica located at the distal tip, 2) long and short sensill...

Previously, we generated P-element insert lines in Drosophila melanogaster with impaired olfactory behavior. One of these smell-impaired (smi) mutants, smi60E, contains a P[lArB] transposon in the second intron of the dsc1 gene near a nested gene encoding the L41 ribosomal protein. The dsc1 gene encodes an ion channel of unknown function homologous to the paralytic (para) sodium channel, which ...

The olfactory organs from the squid Lolliguncula brevis are composed of a pseudostrati¢ed epithelium containing ¢ve morphological subtypes of chemosensory neurons and ciliated support cells. Physiological recordings have been made from two of the subtypes and only the type 4 neuron has been studied in detail. Odour-stimulated increases in intracellular calcium and rapid activation of an electro...

Recent observations have implicated the vomeronasal (accessory olfactory) system in the chemosensory control of rodent social behaviors. The purpose of this study was to observe the effects of peripheral vomeronasal organ extirpation on sexual behavior, aggression, and urine marking in male mice. Relative to sham-operated control animals, mice lacking vomeronasal organs displayed significantly ...

organization of various cells lining the olfactory mucosa of puntius ticto (hamilton, 1822) were described by light as well as scanning electron microscopy. the paired olfactory chambers located antero-dorsal to the eyes and communicated outside through anterior and posterior nasal openings. the oval shaped olfactory rosette lied at the bottom of chamber and composed of 18-20 lamellae arranged ...

Most tetrapods, the group of vertebrates that includes amphibians, reptiles, and mammals, possess separate olfactory and vomeronasal systems. Why? What are the functions of these two anatomically distinct chemosensory systems? Although the vomeronasal system is often presumed to be specialized for mediating responses to pheromones and the olfactory system assumed to respond to “general odorants...

Olfactory mucosa, the sense organ of smell, is an adult tissue that is regenerated and repaired throughout life to maintain the integrity of the sense of smell. When the sensory neurons of the olfactory epithelium die they are replaced by proliferation of stem cells and their axons grow from the nose to brain assisted by olfactory ensheathing cells located in the lamina propria beneath the sens...

There is worldwide enthusiasm for the prospect of some kind of cellular transplant therapy for repair of failing organs. The olfactory mucosa of a patient's nose is easily biopsied to provide a ready source of multipotent cells. In this article we address practical issues pertinent to using olfactory neural stem cells for tissue repair. These cells are emerging as potentially most significant ...