The organizing principle of grouped olfactory receptor neurons

项目摘要/摘要 本项目的目标是确定嗅觉感受器神经元(ORN)的组织原理。 果蝇触角感觉毛中的类群。对于大多数感觉系统，神经元是以一种 以有序的方式形成来自外部世界的刺激的地形表示。了解 此类地图的组织原则对于破译提取的显著要素的性质至关重要 从平行输入到侧向抑制。然而，在嗅觉中，神经元是否以及如何组织 在很大程度上仍不清楚。据报道，在啮齿动物和苍蝇中，邻近的肾小球 不一定对类似的气味有反应。在没有化疗地图的情况下，那么 嗅觉系统的组织原则？为了解决这个复杂的问题，这里概述的研究 利用果蝇强大的遗传工具包和易驾驭的嗅觉系统。一般的假设是- On根据它们检测到的气味的享乐值在外围组织以形成价态 MAP-将通过系统的行为分析与SELECT的光遗传或热遗传激活进行测试 感受器神经元。该提案的第一个目标是确定在相同的情况下观察到的一般性 感觉毛发，被分隔的兽人调节相反的行为--吸引力由激活 大钉子(S)和小钉子邻居(S)的厌恶。其余的目标建议对此进行研究 感觉毛发的组织原理与调节雌性产卵(目标2)或雄性求偶有关 行为(目标3)。该提案的成功执行可能会弥合长期存在的知识鸿沟 通过首次揭示复杂有机体内的嗅觉映射，实现了感官生物学。

PROJECT SUMMARY/ABSTRACT The goal of this project is to determine the organizing principle underlying olfactory receptor neuron (ORN) grouping in the antennal sensory hairs of Drosophila. For most sensory systems, neurons are arranged in an ordered manner to form topographic representations of stimuli from the external world. Understanding the organizing principle of such maps is critical for deciphering the nature of salient features that are extracted from parallel inputs through lateral inhibition. However in olfaction, whether and how neurons are organized into a sensory map remains largely unclear. In both rodents and flies, it is reported that neighboring glomeruli do not necessarily respond to similar odorants. In the absence of a chemotopic map, what then is the organizing principle for the olfactory system? To address this complex question, the research outlined here leverages the powerful genetic toolkit and tractable olfactory system of Drosophila. The general hypothesis— that ORNs are organized in the periphery based on the hedonic value of their detected odors to form a valence map—will be tested via systematic behavioral assays with optogenetic or thermogenetic activation of select receptor neurons. The proposal’s first aim is to determine the generality of the observation that in the same sensory hair, compartmentalized ORNs mediate opposing behavior—with attraction elicited by activation of the large-spike ORN(s) and aversion by the small-spike neighbor(s). The remaining aims propose to examine this organizing principle in sensory hairs implicated in regulating female egg-laying (Aim 2) or male courtship behavior (Aim 3). Successful execution of the proposal will likely bridge a longstanding knowledge gap in sensory biology by revealing, for the first time, olfactory maps within a complex organism.