Olfaction written in bone: cribriform plate size parallels olfactory receptor gene repertoires in Mammalia.

ABSTRACT: The evolution of mammalian olfaction is manifested in a remarkable diversity of gene repertoires, neuroanatomy and skull morphology across living species. Olfactory receptor genes (ORGs), which initiate the conversion of odorant molecules into odour perceptions and help an animal resolve the olfactory world, range in number from a mere handful to several thousand genes across species. Within the snout, each of these ORGs is exclusively expressed by a discrete population of olfactory sensory neurons (OSNs), suggesting that newly evolved ORGs may be coupled with new OSN populations in the nasal epithelium. Because OSN axon bundles leave high-fidelity perforations (foramina) in the bone as they traverse the cribriform plate (CP) to reach the brain, we predicted that taxa with larger ORG reper

SUBMITTER: Bird DJ 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5879636 | biostudies-literature | 2018 Mar

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature