A regulatory code for neuron-specific odor receptor expression.

ABSTRACT: Olfactory receptor neurons (ORNs) must select-from a large repertoire-which odor receptors to express. In Drosophila, most ORNs express one of 60 Or genes, and most Or genes are expressed in a single ORN class in a process that produces a stereotyped receptor-to-neuron map. The construction of this map poses a problem of receptor gene regulation that is remarkable in its dimension and about which little is known. By using a phylogenetic approach and the genome sequences of 12 Drosophila species, we systematically identified regulatory elements that are evolutionarily conserved and specific for individual Or genes of the maxillary palp. Genetic analysis of these elements supports a model in which each receptor gene contains a zip code, consisting of elements that act positively to promote e

SUBMITTER: Ray A 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC2430909 | biostudies-literature | 2008 May

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature