Insects can detect a large range of odors with a numerically simple olfactory system that delivers high sensitivity and accurate discrimination. Therefore, insect olfactory receptors hold great promise as biosensors for detection of volatile organic chemicals in a range of applications. The array of olfactory receptor neurons of Drosophila melanogaster is rapidly becoming the best-characterized natural nose. We have investigated the suitability of Drosophila receptors as detectors for volatiles with applications in law enforcement, emergency response, and security. We first characterized responses of the majority of olfactory neuron types to a set of diagnostic odorants. Being thus able to correctly identify neurons, we then screened for responses from 38 different types of neurons to 35 agents. We identified 13 neuron types with responses to 13 agents. As individual Drosophila receptor genes have been mapped to neuron types, we can infer which genes confer responsiveness to the neurons. The responses were confirmed for one receptor by expressing it in a nonresponsive neuron. The fly olfactory system is mainly adapted to detect volatiles from fermenting fruits. However, our findings establish that volatiles associated with illicit substances, many of which are of nonnatural origin, are also detected by Drosophila receptors.

Item Type:	Refereed Article
Keywords:	Biosensor; Drosophila melanogaster; Drugs; Explosives; Olfactory receptors; Toxic gasses; 2 butanone; acetic anhydride; acetone; ammonia; benzaldehyde; chlorine; cyclohexanone; cyclonite; diethanolamine; diethylphosphite; dimpylate; endosulfan; male
Research Division:	Biological Sciences
Research Group:	Genetics
Research Field:	Neurogenetics
Objective Division:	Expanding Knowledge
Objective Group:	Expanding knowledge
Objective Field:	Expanding knowledge in the biological sciences
UTAS Author:	Warr, CG (Professor Coral Warr)
ID Code:	131884
Year Published:	2010
Web of Science® Times Cited:	38
Deposited By:	Office of the School of Medicine
Deposited On:	2019-04-10
Last Modified:	2019-04-10
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