Abstract Noses are extremely sophisticated chemical detectors allowing animals to use scents interpret and navigate their environments. Odor detection starts with the activation of odorant receptors (ORs), expressed in mature olfactory sensory neurons (OSNs) populating mucosa. Different odorants, or different concentrations same odorant, activate unique ensembles ORs. This mechanism combinatori...

Molecular biology studies of olfaction have identified a multigene family of molecular receptors that are likely to be involved in odor transduction mechanisms. However, because previous functional data on peripheral coding were mainly collected from inferior vertebrates, it has been difficult to document the degree of specificity of odor interaction mechanisms. As a matter of fact, studies of ...

Most odors in the natural environment are mixtures of several compounds. Olfactory receptors housed in the olfactory sensory neurons detect these odors and transmit the information to the brain, leading to decision-making. But whether the olfactory system detects the ingredients of a mixture separately or treats mixtures as different entities is not well understood. Using Drosophila melanogaste...

In mammals, two recent studies have shown recently that one odor molecule can be recognized by several molecular olfactory receptors (ORs), and a single OR can recognize multiple odor molecules. In addition, one olfactory receptor neuron (ORN) may respond to different stimuli chosen as representative of distinct odor qualities. The aim of the present study was to analyze quality and intensity c...