Analysis of the catnip reaction: mediation by olfactory system, not vomeronasal organ

“Chemoreception and the sense of smell” is the seventh chapter of the book Sensory Transduction and begins with a general description of chemoreception, including chemotaxis in bacteria. It then describes olfaction in insects, including new discoveries of the nature of insect receptor proteins and the coding of olfaction in insects. It proceeds to review olfaction in vertebrates, beginning with the primary olfactory epithelium. It describes olfactory receptor proteins, the mechanism of olfactory transduction, and pathways of desensitization and adaptation. The basis of coding in the principal olfactory epithelium is described together with the anatomy and physiology of the olfactory bulb. A final section is provided on the accessory olfactory system and vomeronasal organ, including a description of receptor proteins, transduction cascades, and wiring to the accessory olfactory bulbs.

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Vomeronasal organ and the accessory olfactory system

Applied Animal Behaviour Science ◽

10.1016/0168-1591(85)90021-8 ◽

1985 ◽

Vol 14 (2) ◽

pp. 105-109 ◽

Cited By ~ 2

Author(s):

W.K. Whitten

Keyword(s):

Olfactory System ◽

Vomeronasal Organ ◽

Accessory Olfactory System

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The olfactory system of the tammar wallaby is developed at birth and directs the neonate to its mother's pouch odours

Reproduction ◽

10.1530/rep-09-0145 ◽

2009 ◽

Vol 138 (5) ◽

pp. 849-857 ◽

Cited By ~ 25

Author(s):

Nanette Y Schneider ◽

Terrence P Fletcher ◽

Geoff Shaw ◽

Marilyn B Renfree

Keyword(s):

Olfactory System ◽

Vomeronasal Organ ◽

Tammar Wallaby ◽

Main Olfactory Bulb ◽

Macropus Eugenii ◽

Main Olfactory Epithelium ◽

Receptor Cells ◽

Olfactory Systems ◽

Main Olfactory System ◽

Pouch Secretions

In kangaroos and wallabies at birth the highly altricial newborn young climbs unassisted from the urogenital opening to the teat. Negative geotropism is important for the initial climb to the pouch opening, but nothing is known of the signals that then direct the neonate downwards to the teat. Here we show that the newborn tammar wallaby (Macropus eugenii) has the olfactory apparatus to detect smell. Both the main olfactory system and vomeronasal organ (VNO) are developed at the time of birth. Receptor cells of the main olfactory epithelium immunopositive for Goα-protein project to the three layered main olfactory bulb (MOB). The receptor epithelium of the VNO contains G-protein immunopositive cells and has olfactory knob-like structures. The VNO is connected to an area between the two MOBs. Next, using a functional test, we show that neonates can respond to odours from their mother's pouch. When neonatal young are presented with a choice of a pouch-odour-soaked swab or a saline swab, they choose the swab with their mother's pouch secretions significantly more often (P<0.05) than the saline swab. We conclude that both olfactory systems are capable of receiving odour signals at birth, a function that must be a critical adaptation for the survival of an altricial marsupial neonate such as the tammar for its journey to the pouch.

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Neural pathways of olfactory kin imprinting and kin recognition in zebrafish

Cell and Tissue Research ◽

10.1007/s00441-020-03378-4 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 383 (1) ◽

pp. 273-287

Author(s):

Gabriele Gerlach ◽

Mario F. Wullimann

Keyword(s):

Teleost Fish ◽

Olfactory System ◽

Cognitive Skills ◽

Kin Recognition ◽

Vomeronasal Organ ◽

Medial Amygdala ◽

Neural Pathways ◽

Neuronal Circuits ◽

Accessory Olfactory System

Abstract Teleost fish exhibit extraordinary cognitive skills that are comparable to those of mammals and birds. Kin recognition based on olfactory and visual imprinting requires neuronal circuits that were assumed to be necessarily dependent on the interaction of mammalian amygdala, hippocampus, and isocortex, the latter being a structure that teleost fish are lacking. We show that teleosts—beyond having a hippocampus and pallial amygdala homolog—also have subpallial amygdalar structures. In particular, we identify the medial amygdala and neural olfactory central circuits related to kin imprinting and kin recognition corresponding to an accessory olfactory system despite the absence of a separate vomeronasal organ.

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Ultrastructural analysis of unique glycoconjugates in the rat olfactory system

Proceedings, annual meeting, Electron Microscopy Society of America ◽

10.1017/s0424820100124859 ◽

1992 ◽

Vol 50 (1) ◽

pp. 890-891

Author(s):

James E. Crandall ◽

Linda C. Hassinger ◽

Gerald A. Schwarting

Keyword(s):

Central Nervous System ◽

Nervous System ◽

Monoclonal Antibodies ◽

Olfactory System ◽

Olfactory Bulbs ◽

Temporal And Spatial Patterns ◽

Carbohydrate Epitopes ◽

Olfactory Systems ◽

Temporal And Spatial ◽

Cell Surface Glycoconjugates

Cell surface glycoconjugates are considered to play important roles in cell-cell interactions in the developing central nervous system. We have previously described a group of monoclonal antibodies that recognize defined carbohydrate epitopes and reveal unique temporal and spatial patterns of immunoreactivity in the developing main and accessory olfactory systems in rats. Antibody CC2 reacts with complex α-galactosyl and α-fucosyl glycoproteins and glycolipids. Antibody CC1 reacts with terminal N-acetyl galactosamine residues of globoside-like glycolipids. Antibody 1B2 reacts with β-galactosyl glycolipids and glycoproteins. Our light microscopic data suggest that these antigens may be located on the surfaces of axons of the vomeronasal and olfactory nerves as well as on some of their target neurons in the main and accessory olfactory bulbs.

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