The molecular basis of olfaction in Drosophila larvae

描述(申请人提供)：动物使用他们的嗅觉系统来与复杂和异质的环境互动。尽管我们已经发现了许多关于嗅觉系统是如何工作的，但我们仍然不能很好地理解气味是如何转化为大脑中的信息的。果蝇幼虫是检验气味编码假说的理想系统。幼虫的嗅觉感受器神经元很少，但表现出复杂的嗅觉调节行为。我建议对果蝇幼虫的嗅觉受体进行遗传学、行为学和生理学分析。我将测试气味受体(或)基因在幼虫中起嗅觉受体作用的假设。此外，我计划测试或基因对幼虫嗅觉行为的贡献。

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): Animals use their olfactory sensory systems to interact with the complex and heterogeneous environment. Although we have discovered much about how olfactory systems work, we still do not well understand how an odor is translated into information in the brain. The Drosophila larva is an ideal system in which to test hypotheses about odor coding. Larvae have few olfactory receptor neurons, yet display sophisticated olfactory mediated behaviors. I propose an examination of olfactory receptors in Drosophila larvae using genetic, behavioral, and physiological analysis. I will test the hypothesis that Odorant receptor (Or) genes act as olfactory receptors in the larva. Furthermore, I plan to test the contribution of Or genes to olfactory behavior in the larvae.