The giant pouched rat (Cricetomys ansorgei) olfactory receptor repertoire

AbstractFor rodents, olfaction is essential for locating food, recognizing mates and competitors, avoiding predators, and navigating their environment. It is thought that rodents may have expanded olfactory receptor repertoires in order to specialize in olfactory behavior. Despite being the largest clade of mammals and depending on olfaction relatively little work has documented olfactory repertoires outside of the conventional laboratory mice and rats. Here we report the olfactory receptor repertoire of the African giant pouched rat (Cricetomys ansorgei), a Muroid rodent distantly related to mice and rats. The African giant pouched rat is notable for its large cortex and olfactory bulbs relative to its body size compared to other sympatric rodents, which suggests anatomical elaboration of olfactory capabilities. We hypothesized that in addition to anatomical elaboration for olfaction, these pouched rats might also have an expanded olfactory receptor repertoire to enable their olfactory behavior. We examined the composition of the olfactory receptor repertoire to better understand how their sensory capabilities have evolved. We identified 1145 functional olfactory genes, and 260 additional pseudogenes within 301 subfamilies from the African giant pouched rat genome. This repertoire is similar to mice and rats in terms of size, pseudogene percentage and number of subfamilies. Analyses of olfactory receptor gene trees revealed that the pouched rat has 6 expansions in different subfamilies compared to mice, rats and squirrels. We identified 99 orthologous genes conserved among 4 rodent species and an additional 167 conserved genes within the Muroid rodents. The orthologous genes shared within Muroidea suggests that there may be a conserved Muroid-specific olfactory receptor repertoire. We also note that the description of this repertoire can serve as a complement to other studies of rodent olfaction, as the pouched rat is an outgroup within Muroidea. Thus, our data suggest that African giant pouched rats are capable of both natural and trained olfactory behaviors with a typical Muriod olfactory receptor repertoire.

Download Full-text

Olfactory receptor gene cluster on human chromosome 17: possible duplication of an ancestral receptor repertoire

Human Molecular Genetics ◽

10.1093/hmg/3.2.229 ◽

1994 ◽

Vol 3 (2) ◽

pp. 229-235 ◽

Cited By ~ 134

Author(s):

Nissim Ben-Arie ◽

Doron Lancet ◽

Clare Taylor ◽

Miriam Khen ◽

NaomlWalker ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Human Chromosome ◽

Gene Cluster ◽

Olfactory Receptor ◽

Receptor Gene ◽

Chromosome 17 ◽

Olfactory Receptor Gene ◽

Receptor Repertoire ◽

Human Chromosome 17

Download Full-text

Potential roles of spontaneous activity of olfactory receptor neurons in the olfactory behavior of Drosophila larvae

10.26226/morressier.5b31ec5c2afeeb001345b1d8 ◽

2018 ◽

Author(s):

Nao Utashiro

Keyword(s):

Spontaneous Activity ◽

Olfactory Receptor ◽

Olfactory Receptor Neurons ◽

Olfactory Behavior ◽

Drosophila Larvae ◽

Receptor Neurons

Download Full-text

Faculty Opinions recommendation of The olfactory receptor gene superfamily of the mouse.

Faculty Opinions – Post-Publication Peer Review of the Biomedical Literature ◽

10.3410/f.1004627.52854 ◽

2002 ◽

Author(s):

Peter Mombaerts

Keyword(s):

Olfactory Receptor ◽

Receptor Gene ◽

Olfactory Receptor Gene

Download Full-text

Olfactory receptor gene repertoires in mammals

Mutation Research/Fundamental and Molecular Mechanisms of Mutagenesis ◽

10.1016/j.mrfmmm.2006.11.012 ◽

2007 ◽

Vol 616 (1-2) ◽

pp. 95-102 ◽

Cited By ~ 38

Author(s):

Sylvie Rouquier ◽

Dominique Giorgi

Keyword(s):

Olfactory Receptor ◽

Receptor Gene ◽

Olfactory Receptor Gene

Download Full-text

Differing from diseased stage in melanoma, the olfactory receptor gene OR56A4 is expressed

10.31219/osf.io/yz37x ◽

2021 ◽

Author(s):

Bronte Morse ◽

Kobi Decker

Keyword(s):

Breast Cancer ◽

Cancer Patients ◽

Olfactory Receptor ◽

Receptor Gene ◽

Stage I ◽

Stage Ii ◽

Stage Iii ◽

Olfactory Receptor Gene ◽

Breast Cancer Patients ◽

Receptor Family

We have compared the global profiles of 100 tumors in Stage I, II and III with two independently releasedmicroarray datasets in order to understand their transcriptional behaviors accompanying a progression in breastcancer (1, 2). The olfactive receptor, family 56, subfamily A, member 4 OR56A4, was discovered to have beenone of the genes with the most varied expression when comparing initial tumors in stage I, stage II, and stageIII of breast cancer patients. In the stage III tumors, OR56A4 expression in comparison to the stage I tumorswas lower.

Download Full-text

Olfactory receptor gene family evolution in stickleback and medaka fishes

Science China Life Sciences ◽

10.1007/s11427-010-0025-4 ◽

2010 ◽

Vol 53 (2) ◽

pp. 257-266 ◽

Cited By ~ 4

Author(s):

Ming Chen ◽

ZuoGang Peng ◽

ShunPing He

Keyword(s):

Gene Family ◽

Olfactory Receptor ◽

Receptor Gene ◽

Gene Family Evolution ◽

Olfactory Receptor Gene ◽

Receptor Gene Family

Download Full-text

Spatially Organized Response Zones in Rat Olfactory Epithelium

Journal of Neurophysiology ◽

10.1152/jn.1997.77.4.1950 ◽

1997 ◽

Vol 77 (4) ◽

pp. 1950-1962 ◽

Cited By ~ 35

Author(s):

John W. Scott ◽

Donna E. Shannon ◽

Jeff Charpentier ◽

Lisa M. Davis ◽

Craig Kaplan

Keyword(s):

Gene Expression ◽

Functional Groups ◽

Olfactory Epithelium ◽

Olfactory Receptor ◽

Receptor Gene ◽

Chemical Properties ◽

Receptor Expression ◽

Response Distribution ◽

Chemical Structures ◽

Four Electrodes

Scott, John W., Donna E. Shannon, Jeff Charpentier, Lisa M. Davis, and Craig Kaplan. Spatially organized response zones in rat olfactory epithelium. J. Neurophysiol. 77: 1950–1962, 1997. Electroolfactogram recordings were made with a four-electrode assembly from the olfactory epithelium overlying the endoturbinate bones facing the nasal septum. In this study we tested whether odors of different chemical structures produce maximal responses along longitudinally oriented regions following the olfactory receptor gene expression zones described in the literature. The distribution of responses along the dorsal-to-ventral direction of this epithelium (i.e., across the expression zones) was tested in two types of experiments. In one, four electrodes were fixed along the dorsal-to-ventral axis of one turbinate bone. In the other, four electrodes were placed in corresponding positions on four turbinate bones and moved together up toward the top of the bone. These experiments compared the odorants limonene and α-terpinene, which are simple hydrocarbons, with carvone and menthone, which differ from the hydrocarbons by the presence of ketone groups. All responses were standardized to an amyl acetate or ethyl butyrate standard. The responses to limonene and α-terpinene were often larger for the ventral electrodes. The responses to carvone and menthone were largest for the dorsal electrodes. Intermediate electrodes gave responses that were intermediate in amplitude for these odors. The possibility that direction of air flow caused the observed response distributions was directly tested in experiments with odor nozzles placed in two positions. The relatively larger dorsal responses to carvone and relatively larger ventral responses to limonene were present despite odor nozzle position. We conclude that the responses to this set of odors vary systematically in a fashion parallel to the four gene expression zones. The odorant property that governs this response distribution may be related to the presence of oxygen-containing functional groups. Certain odors evoked larger responses at the intermediate electrode sites than at other sites. Cineole was the best example of this effect. This observation shows that not all oxygen-containing functional groups produce the same effect. Although we cannot exclude other possible mechanisms, these three response gradients may be produced by the four receptor expression zones described for many of the putative olfactory receptor genes. Therefore many of the receptors in each zone may share common properties. It remains to be determined whether this zonal input is significant in central odor processing. However, the correlation of odor chemical properties with the structure of receptor molecules in each zone may provide significant leads to structure-function relationships in vertebrate olfaction.

Download Full-text