One of the most fundamental tenets in the field of olfaction is that each olfactory receptor neuron (ORN) expresses a single odorant receptor. However, the one receptor-one neuron principle is difficult to establish rigorously. Here we construct a receptor-to-neuron map for an entire olfactory organ in Drosophila and find that two receptor genes are coexpressed in one class of ORN. Both receptors are functional in an in vivo expression system, they are only 16% identical in amino acid sequence, and the genes that encode them are unlinked. Most importantly, their coexpression has been conserved for >45 million years. Expression of multiple odor receptors in a cell provides an additional degree of freedom for odor coding.

Item Type:	Refereed Article
Keywords:	amino acid; odorant receptor 33c; odorant receptor 85e; receptor subtype; unclassified drug; amino acid sequence; animal cell; article; controlled study; Drosophila; gene expression; gene expression system; genetic conservation; genetic linkage
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:	131984
Year Published:	2005
Web of Science® Times Cited:	181
Deposited By:	Office of the School of Medicine
Deposited On:	2019-04-16
Last Modified:	2019-04-16
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