19
views
0
recommends
+1 Recommend
0 collections
    0
    shares
      • Record: found
      • Abstract: found
      • Article: found
      Is Open Access

      The Two Main Olfactory Receptor Families in Drosophila, ORs and IRs: A Comparative Approach

      review-article

      Read this article at

      Bookmark
          There is no author summary for this article yet. Authors can add summaries to their articles on ScienceOpen to make them more accessible to a non-specialist audience.

          Abstract

          Most insect species rely on the detection of olfactory cues for critical behaviors for the survival of the species, e.g., finding food, suitable mates and appropriate egg-laying sites. Although insects show a diverse array of molecular receptors dedicated to the detection of sensory cues, two main types of molecular receptors have been described as responsible for olfactory reception in Drosophila, the odorant receptors (ORs) and the ionotropic receptors (IRs). Although both receptor families share the role of being the first chemosensors in the insect olfactory system, they show distinct evolutionary origins and several distinct structural and functional characteristics. While ORs are seven-transmembrane-domain receptor proteins, IRs are related to the ionotropic glutamate receptor (iGluR) family. Both types of receptors are expressed on the olfactory sensory neurons (OSNs) of the main olfactory organ, the antenna, but they are housed in different types of sensilla, IRs in coeloconic sensilla and ORs in basiconic and trichoid sensilla. More importantly, from the functional point of view, they display different odorant specificity profiles. Research advances in the last decade have improved our understanding of the molecular basis, evolution and functional roles of these two families, but there are still controversies and unsolved key questions that remain to be answered. Here, we present an updated review on the advances of the genetic basis, evolution, structure, functional response and regulation of both types of chemosensory receptors. We use a comparative approach to highlight the similarities and differences among them. Moreover, we will discuss major open questions in the field of olfactory reception in insects. A comprehensive analysis of the structural and functional convergence and divergence of both types of receptors will help in elucidating the molecular basis of the function and regulation of chemoreception in insects.

          Related collections

          Most cited references150

          • Record: found
          • Abstract: found
          • Article: not found

          Insect olfactory receptors are heteromeric ligand-gated ion channels.

          In insects, each olfactory sensory neuron expresses between one and three ligand-binding members of the olfactory receptor (OR) gene family, along with the highly conserved and broadly expressed Or83b co-receptor. The functional insect OR consists of a heteromeric complex of unknown stoichiometry but comprising at least one variable odorant-binding subunit and one constant Or83b family subunit. Insect ORs lack homology to G-protein-coupled chemosensory receptors in vertebrates and possess a distinct seven-transmembrane topology with the amino terminus located intracellularly. Here we provide evidence that heteromeric insect ORs comprise a new class of ligand-activated non-selective cation channels. Heterologous cells expressing silkmoth, fruitfly or mosquito heteromeric OR complexes showed extracellular Ca2+ influx and cation-non-selective ion conductance on stimulation with odorant. Odour-evoked OR currents are independent of known G-protein-coupled second messenger pathways. The fast response kinetics and OR-subunit-dependent K+ ion selectivity of the insect OR complex support the hypothesis that the complex between OR and Or83b itself confers channel activity. Direct evidence for odorant-gated channels was obtained by outside-out patch-clamp recording of Xenopus oocyte and HEK293T cell membranes expressing insect OR complexes. The ligand-gated ion channel formed by an insect OR complex seems to be the basis for a unique strategy that insects have acquired to respond to the olfactory environment.
            Bookmark
            • Record: found
            • Abstract: found
            • Article: not found

            Drosophila odorant receptors are both ligand-gated and cyclic-nucleotide-activated cation channels.

            From worm to man, many odorant signals are perceived by the binding of volatile ligands to odorant receptors that belong to the G-protein-coupled receptor (GPCR) family. They couple to heterotrimeric G-proteins, most of which induce cAMP production. This second messenger then activates cyclic-nucleotide-gated ion channels to depolarize the olfactory receptor neuron, thus providing a signal for further neuronal processing. Recent findings, however, have challenged this concept of odorant signal transduction in insects, because their odorant receptors, which lack any sequence similarity to other GPCRs, are composed of conventional odorant receptors (for example, Or22a), dimerized with a ubiquitously expressed chaperone protein, such as Or83b in Drosophila. Or83b has a structure akin to GPCRs, but has an inverted orientation in the plasma membrane. However, G proteins are expressed in insect olfactory receptor neurons, and olfactory perception is modified by mutations affecting the cAMP transduction pathway. Here we show that application of odorants to mammalian cells co-expressing Or22a and Or83b results in non-selective cation currents activated by means of an ionotropic and a metabotropic pathway, and a subsequent increase in the intracellular Ca(2+) concentration. Expression of Or83b alone leads to functional ion channels not directly responding to odorants, but being directly activated by intracellular cAMP or cGMP. Insect odorant receptors thus form ligand-gated channels as well as complexes of odorant-sensing units and cyclic-nucleotide-activated non-selective cation channels. Thereby, they provide rapid and transient as well as sensitive and prolonged odorant signalling.
              Bookmark
              • Record: found
              • Abstract: found
              • Article: not found

              A spatial map of olfactory receptor expression in the Drosophila antenna.

              Insects provide an attractive system for the study of olfactory sensory perception. We have identified a novel family of seven transmembrane domain proteins, encoded by 100 to 200 genes, that is likely to represent the family of Drosophila odorant receptors. Members of this gene family are expressed in topographically defined subpopulations of olfactory sensory neurons in either the antenna or the maxillary palp. Sensory neurons express different complements of receptor genes, such that individual neurons are functionally distinct. The isolation of candidate odorant receptor genes along with a genetic analysis of olfactory-driven behavior in insects may ultimately afford a system to understand the mechanistic link between odor recognition and behavior.
                Bookmark

                Author and article information

                Contributors
                Journal
                Front Cell Neurosci
                Front Cell Neurosci
                Front. Cell. Neurosci.
                Frontiers in Cellular Neuroscience
                Frontiers Media S.A.
                1662-5102
                30 August 2018
                2018
                : 12
                : 253
                Affiliations
                [1] 1Department of Functional Biology, Faculty of Medicine, University of Oviedo , Oviedo, Spain
                [2] 2Department of Cellular Biology, Faculty of Medicine, University of Oviedo , Oviedo, Spain
                Author notes

                Edited by: Dieter Wicher, Max-Planck-Institut für Chemische Ökologie, Germany

                Reviewed by: Jürgen Krieger, Martin Luther University of Halle-Wittenberg, Germany; Monika Stengl, University of Kassel, Germany

                *Correspondence: Esther Alcorta ealcorta@ 123456uniovi.es

                These authors have contributed equally to this work

                Article
                10.3389/fncel.2018.00253
                6125307
                30214396
                40a64cdf-6911-4ff9-8bd9-b83442f7940e
                Copyright © 2018 Gomez-Diaz, Martin, Garcia-Fernandez and Alcorta.

                This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) and the copyright owner(s) are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.

                History
                : 25 May 2018
                : 23 July 2018
                Page count
                Figures: 2, Tables: 1, Equations: 0, References: 175, Pages: 15, Words: 13093
                Categories
                Neuroscience
                Review

                Neurosciences
                chemosensation,receptors,drosophila,ors,irs,olfaction,taste
                Neurosciences
                chemosensation, receptors, drosophila, ors, irs, olfaction, taste

                Comments

                Comment on this article