Goldfish reproduction is coordinated by pheromones that are released by ovulating females and detected by males. Two highly potent pheromones, a dihydroxyprogesterone and a prostaglandin, previously have been identified, and their effects on goldfish behavior have been studied in depth. We have cloned goldfish olfactory epithelium cDNAs belonging to two multigene G-protein coupled receptor fami...

In general, the nasal cavity of turtles is divided into two chambers: the upper chamber, lined with the olfactory epithelium containing ciliated olfactory receptor cells, and the lower chamber, lined with the vomeronasal epithelium containing microvillous receptor cells. In the nasal cavity of soft-shelled turtles, however, differences between the upper and lower chamber epithelia are unclear d...

The sense of smell plays a crucial role in mammalian social and sexual behaviour, identification of food, and detection of predators. Nevertheless, mammals vary in their olfactory ability. One reason for this concerns the degree of development of their pars basalis rhinencephali, an anatomical feature that has been considered in classifying this group of animals as macrosmatic, microsmatic or a...

The vomeronasal system (VNS) is an accessory olfactory system that in tetrapod vertebrates is composed of specific receptor neurons in the nasal organ and a set of centers in the forebrain that receive and relay the information consecutively towards the hypothalamus. Thus, only in tetrapods the VNS comprises a discrete vomeronasal (Jacobson's) organ, which contains receptor cells that are morph...

tive sense. In Marcel ProustÕs novel Remembrance of Things Past, the nostalgic ßavor and fragrance of a madeleine, a delicate pastry, evokes a description of taste and smell, the senses that Òalone, more fragile but more enduring, more unsubstantial, more persistent. . . bear unßinchingly, in the tiny and almost impalpable drop of their essence, the vast structure of recollection.Ó Humans often...

To date, over 100 vomeronasal receptor type 1 (V1R) genes have been identified in rodents. V1R is specifically expressed in the rodent vomeronasal organ (VNO) and is thought to be responsible for pheromone reception. Recently, 21 putatively functional V1R genes were identified in the genome database of the amphibian Xenopus tropicalis. Amphibians are the first vertebrates to possess a VNO. In o...

Investigation of how specialized olfactory cues, such as pheromones, are detected has primarily focused on the function of receptor neurons within a subsystem of the nasal cavity, the vomeronasal organ (VNO). Behavioral analyses have long indicated that additional, non-VNO olfactory neurons are similarly necessary for pheromone detection; however, the identity of these neurons has been a myster...

Abstract Background Studies have shown that olfactory receptor genes are the largest in human genome, which significantly expressed and non-olfactory tissues such as reproductive systems where they perform many important biological functions. Main body There is growing evidence bioactive metabolites from ovary, follicular fluid, other parts of female tract signal sperm through a series transduc...

Citation: Salazar I (2015) The nasal cavity and its olfactory sensory territories. The sense of smell is more complex than previously believed. For different reasons, the receptors traditionally thought of having the ability to identify chemical olfactory signals were exclusively confined to the epithelium of the mucosa lining both the posterior part of the walls of the nasal cavity and the eth...