A transcriptomic atlas of mammalian olfactory mucosae reveals an evolutionary influence on food odor detection in humans.

ABSTRACT: The mammalian olfactory system displays species-specific adaptations to different ecological niches. To investigate the evolutionary dynamics of olfactory sensory neuron (OSN) subtypes across mammalian evolution, we applied RNA sequencing of whole olfactory mucosa samples from mouse, rat, dog, marmoset, macaque, and human. We find that OSN subtypes, representative of all known mouse chemosensory receptor gene families, are present in all analyzed species. Further, we show that OSN subtypes expressing canonical olfactory receptors are distributed across a large dynamic range and that homologous subtypes can be either highly abundant across all species or species/order specific. Highly abundant mouse and human OSN subtypes detect odorants with similar sensory profiles and sense ecologically

SUBMITTER: Saraiva LR 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6669018 | biostudies-literature | 2019 Jul

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature