Drosophila olfactory receptor neurons are found within specialized sensory hairs on antenna and maxillary palps. The linking of odorant-induced responses to olfactory neuron activities is often accomplished via Single Sensillum Recordings (SSR), in which an electrode inserted into a single sensory hair records the neuronal activities of all the neurons housed in that sensillum. The identificati...

We have expressed a male-specific, pheromone-sensitive odorant receptor (OR), BmorOR1, from the silkworm moth Bombyx mori in an "empty neuron" housed in the ab3 sensilla of a Drosophila Deltahalo mutant. Single-sensillum recordings showed that the BmorOR1-expressing neurons in the transgenic flies responded to the B. mori pheromone bombykol, albeit with low sensitivity. These transgenic flies r...

Mosquitoes are highly dependent on their olfactory system for, e.g. host location and identification of nectar-feeding and oviposition sites. Odours are detected by olfactory receptor neurons (ORNs) housed in hair-shaped structures, sensilla, on the antennae and maxillary palps. In order to unravel the function of the olfactory system in the yellow fever vector, Aedes aegypti, we performed sing...

The antennular flagella of the crayfish Procambarus clarkii each possess a linear array of near-field receptors, termed standing feathered sensilla, that are extremely sensitive to movement of the surrounding water. Previously it had been shown that, within each flagellum, the axonal conduction velocity of the sensory neuron pair associated with each feathered sensillum was linearly related to ...

............................................................................................................................. 17 Introduction ........................................................................................................................ 17 I.2 Material and Methods ................................................................................................... 20 I.2...

N,N-Diethyl-m-toluamide (DEET) is one of the most effective and commonly used mosquito repellents. However, during laboratory trials a small proportion of mosquitoes are still attracted by human odors despite the presence of DEET. In this study behavioral assays identified Aedes aegypti females that were insensitive to DEET, and the selection of either sensitive or insensitive groups of females...

Odorant binding proteins (Obps) are remarkable in their number, diversity, and abundance, yet their role in olfactory coding remains unclear. They are widely believed to be required for transporting hydrophobic odorants through an aqueous lymph to odorant receptors. We construct a map of the Drosophila antenna, in which the abundant Obps are mapped to olfactory sensilla with defined functions. ...