Collaborative Research: Discrimination of Complex Mixtures in Olfactory Signaling

合作研究：嗅觉信号中复杂混合物的辨别

• 批准号: 0641014
• 负责人: Neil Vickers
• 金额: $ 34万
• 依托单位: University of Utah
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Continuing Grant
• 财政年份: 2007
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2007-05-01 至 2011-04-30
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=0641014&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: Collaborative; Research; Discrimination; Complex; Mixtures

For most of the animals that inhabit our planet the sense of smell is critical for survival. Odors are used to find food, shelter, and mates, as well as to mark territories. Sex pheromones are signals used by many animals, including insects, for the purpose of mate location, and are in almost all cases mixtures of chemicals. The exact blend, ratio and concentration of volatile compounds provides for precise communication between individuals of the same species. Indeed, most smells are mixtures and thus understanding how they are detected and processed by the nervous system is of fundamental interest to research on olfaction in general. Many insects exhibit distinct differences in body form between juvenile and adult stages. The adult antenna (the insect 'nose') is formed during metamorphosis from a patch of tissue known as the antennal imaginal disc. Similar discs give rise to other adult-specific structures such as wings, legs, eyes and genitalia during metamorphosis. The three related moth species that will be used in this project all utilize different mixtures in their sex pheromones. Males of each species have a different set of sensory neurons on the antenna that detect the volatiles present in the unique pheromone mixture released by their females. During metamorphosis the antennal imaginal disc gives rise to all the sensory neurons that will populate the adult antenna. Processes from these neurons called axons grow into the developing brain where they interact with other central neurons to produce the antennal lobe. This structure is comparable to the human olfactory bulb and it is the site where initial processing of olfactory information occurs. Because the antennal imaginal disc is a discrete patch of tissue it can be removed from a caterpillar that is about to enter into the metamorphic stage and transplanted into a host caterpillar of a different species. After metamorphosis, individual male moths that have received a transplanted antenna can be flown in a wind tunnel to determine the odor mixtures that they prefer. Subsequently recordings can be made both from individual hairs that house olfactory sensory neurons on the antenna and central olfactory neurons that populate the antennal lobe. The combination of behavioral and neurophysiological approaches will provide generally applicable insights into the mechanisms that control the wiring of connections between neurons in the brain and how specifically this contributes to the ability of moths and other animals to process and discriminate amongst different odor mixtures. The partnership between investigators at Cornell University and the University of Utah will involve the continued training of a variety of personnel from high school students to undergraduates and visiting scientists who will benefit from exposure to an integrative, collaborative research program. Results from these experiments will be incorporated into classroom teaching and general public outreach activities.

对于大多数居住在我们星球上的动物来说，气味对于生存至关重要。气味用于寻找食物，庇护所和伴侣，以及标记领土。性信息素是许多动物（包括昆虫）用于伴侣位置的信号，并且在几乎所有情况下都是化学物质的混合物。挥发性化合物的确切混合，比率和浓度提供了同一物种个体之间的精确交流。实际上，大多数气味是混合物，因此了解神经系统如何检测和处理它们是对嗅觉研究的基本兴趣。 许多昆虫在少年和成人阶段之间表现出明显的身体形式差异。成年天线（昆虫'鼻子）是在变质过程中由一块被称为触角想象盘的组织形成的。类似的椎间盘会引起其他成人特异性结构，例如变态过程中的翅膀，腿部，眼睛和生殖器。该项目将使用的三种相关蛾类都利用性爱素中的不同混合物。每个物种的雄性在天线上具有不同的感觉神经元，这些感觉神经元在其女性释放的独特信息素混合物中的挥发物中都有挥发物。在变形过程中，触角想象椎间盘会产生所有将填充成人天线的感觉神经元。这些称为轴突的神经元的过程成长为发育中的大脑，它们与其他中央神经元相互作用以产生触角叶。这种结构与人类嗅球相媲美，它是发生嗅觉信息初始处理的地点。由于触角想象盘是一个离散的组织斑块，因此可以从即将进入变质阶段并移植到不同物种的宿主毛毛虫中的毛毛虫中去除。变态后，可以在风洞中飞行已接受移植天线的个别雄性飞蛾，以确定他们喜欢的气味混合物。随后，可以从散布触角叶的天线和中央嗅觉神经元上容纳嗅觉感觉神经元的单个头发。行为和神经生理学方法的结合将提供通常适用的见解，以控制大脑中神经元之间连接接线的机制，以及这对飞蛾和其他动物的能力以及在不同气味混合物之间进行处理和区分的能力。康奈尔大学的调查人员与犹他大学之间的伙伴关系将涉及从高中生到本科生和访问科学家的各种人员的培训，这些科学家将受益于综合，协作研究计划。这些实验的结果将纳入课堂教学和一般公共外展活动中。