The function of the primary olfactory pathway

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Fish rely on olfaction for many facets of life - predator avoidance, reproduction, feeding and even parental care. Odour concentrations, as low as the picomolar range, are able to generate dramatic behavioural changes. Although great strides have been made towards understanding the olfactory system, basic questions regarding its organization and function remain unanswered. Our longterm goals are to understand the organization and development of functionally distinct subsets of the olfactory pathway in vertebrates that live entirely in an aquatic environment, and how these sub-systems arose during evolution. Consistent with this idea, we will focus on subpopulations of olfactory sensory neurons, and the accessory olfactory organ, an anatomically linked nasal structure with possible chemosensory properties in the lamprey, a jawless (agnathan) fish of ancient origin that is a sister group to the gnathostomes. We will test the hypotheses that these cells 1) possess distinct ultrastructural, functional, biochemical and receptor properties, 2) transmit synaptic information in spatially distinct glomerular territories in the olfactory bulb. Lastly, we will take an activity- based mRNA histological approach for investigating the development of an olfactory pathway that carries information associated with a specific olfactory behaviour. In addition to providing information for the fisheries and aquaculture industry regarding fish olfactory capabilities and development, this research on fish serves as an significant model for understanding the function and evolution of the olfactory system. Understanding the neuroanatomy, composition, function and development of the cellular subpopulations within the olfactory pathway, will lay a foundation for future studies into unraveling the mechanisms of olfactory sensory input on complex behavioural responses.