DISCRIMINATION OF COMPLEX MIXTURE IN 0LFACTORY SIGNALING

嗅球是脊椎动物和无脊椎动物神经通路中共同的功能元件，参与整合关于复杂气味混合物的感觉信息。以前的研究表明，昆虫可以作为研究肾小球功能作用的极佳模型。其中研究最多的一个涉及雄蛾触角叶雄性特有的大肾小球复合体(MGC)中的性信息素处理途径。MGC中的嗅球参与了特定信息素成分的感觉轴突的空间组织，以及它们与特定的局部和投射中间神经元的相互作用，这些神经元整合了气味质量、数量和间歇性的关键方面。本研究的目的是利用欧洲玉米螟(ECB)信息素小种的雌雄之间的触角成像盘移植技术，以及两种天青虫、绿日夜蛾和玉米耳虫之间的触角成像盘移植技术，检验关于嗅球内感觉传入和中枢神经元类型相互作用的假说。这两个昆虫系统一直是信息素产生和感知(ECB)遗传学的广泛研究对象，以及涉及处理信息素信号(日光素类)的神经通路的电生理/解剖学研究。触角移植程序将允许我们构建具有独特触角和行为反应表型的雄性和雌性，以测试肾小球组织和气味质量的行为识别模型。这些物种间的触角移植代表了一种新的实验范式，用于研究肾小球在嗅觉识别中的结构和功能作用的基本方面。

Olfactory glomeruli are the common functional elements in vertebrate and invertebrate neural pathways involved in integrating sensory information about complex odor mixtures. Previous studies have shown that insects can be excellent models for studying the functional role of glomeruli. One of the most studied involves the sex pheromone-processing pathways in the male-specific macroglomerular complex (MGC) of the antennal lobe of male moths. Olfactory glomeruli in the MGC are critically involved in the spatial organization of sensory axons for specific pheromone components and their interactions with specific local and projection interneurons that integrate key aspects of odor quality, quantity, and intermittency. The objectives of the present proposal are to test hypotheses about the interactions of sensory afferents and central neuron types in the olfactory glomeruli, utilizing the technique of transplantation of antennal imaginal disks between males and females of pheromone races of the European corn borer moth (ECB), Ostrinia nubilalis, and two heliothine moths, the tobacco budworm, Heliothis virescens, and the corn earworm, Helicoverpa zea. These two insect systems have been the subject of extensive studies on the genetics of pheromone production and perception (ECB), and electrophysiological/anatomical studies of neural pathways involved in processing the pheromone signal (the heliothines). The antennal transplant procedure will allow us to construct males and females with unique antennal and behavioral response phenotypes to test a model for glomerular organization and behavioral discrimination of odor quality. These interspecies antennal transplants represent a new experimental paradigm for studying basic aspects of the structural and functional role of glomeruli in olfactory discrimination.