Skip to main content
Advertisement

Main menu

  • Home
  • Articles
    • Accepted manuscripts
    • Issue in progress
    • Latest complete issue
    • Issue archive
    • Archive by article type
    • Special issues
    • Subject collections
    • Interviews
    • Sign up for alerts
  • About us
    • About JEB
    • Editors and Board
    • Editor biographies
    • Travelling Fellowships
    • Grants and funding
    • Journal Meetings
    • Workshops
    • The Company of Biologists
    • Journal news
  • For authors
    • Submit a manuscript
    • Aims and scope
    • Presubmission enquiries
    • Article types
    • Manuscript preparation
    • Cover suggestions
    • Editorial process
    • Promoting your paper
    • Open Access
    • Outstanding paper prize
    • Biology Open transfer
  • Journal info
    • Journal policies
    • Rights and permissions
    • Media policies
    • Reviewer guide
    • Sign up for alerts
  • Contacts
    • Contact JEB
    • Subscriptions
    • Advertising
    • Feedback
  • COB
    • About The Company of Biologists
    • Development
    • Journal of Cell Science
    • Journal of Experimental Biology
    • Disease Models & Mechanisms
    • Biology Open

User menu

  • Log in

Search

  • Advanced search
Journal of Experimental Biology
  • COB
    • About The Company of Biologists
    • Development
    • Journal of Cell Science
    • Journal of Experimental Biology
    • Disease Models & Mechanisms
    • Biology Open

supporting biologistsinspiring biology

Journal of Experimental Biology

  • Log in
Advanced search

RSS  Twitter  Facebook  YouTube  

  • Home
  • Articles
    • Accepted manuscripts
    • Issue in progress
    • Latest complete issue
    • Issue archive
    • Archive by article type
    • Special issues
    • Subject collections
    • Interviews
    • Sign up for alerts
  • About us
    • About JEB
    • Editors and Board
    • Editor biographies
    • Travelling Fellowships
    • Grants and funding
    • Journal Meetings
    • Workshops
    • The Company of Biologists
    • Journal news
  • For authors
    • Submit a manuscript
    • Aims and scope
    • Presubmission enquiries
    • Article types
    • Manuscript preparation
    • Cover suggestions
    • Editorial process
    • Promoting your paper
    • Open Access
    • Outstanding paper prize
    • Biology Open transfer
  • Journal info
    • Journal policies
    • Rights and permissions
    • Media policies
    • Reviewer guide
    • Sign up for alerts
  • Contacts
    • Contact JEB
    • Subscriptions
    • Advertising
    • Feedback
Outside JEB
OLFACTORY RECEPTORS TEAR UP THE TEXTBOOKS!
Matthew Cobb
Journal of Experimental Biology 2006 209: iv doi: 10.1242/jeb.02162
Matthew Cobb
  • Find this author on Google Scholar
  • Find this author on PubMed
  • Search for this author on this site
  • Article
  • Info & metrics
  • PDF
Loading

Figure1

Ever since Linda Buck and Richard Axel's 1991 discovery that rat olfactory receptors (ORs) are seven transmembrane molecules that are part of the G-protein coupled receptor family – for which they won the Nobel Prize in 2004 – it has been generally assumed that all ORs show the same conformation.

Over the past few years, work from Leslie Vosshall's laboratory at Rockefeller University has suggested that, unlike vertebrates, insects share a common protein – Or83b – which is necessary for ORs to be integrated into the membrane. Now, in an elegant and thorough paper on Drosophila, Richard Benton and co-workers from Vosshall's group have not only shown how Or83b and OR proteins interact to produce a functional receptor, they have also challenged the idea that insect ORs are G-protein coupled receptors and have effectively turned the receptor molecule inside out. Their findings, if confirmed in other insects, will radically alter our understanding of the evolution and function of olfaction.

In a technical tour de force, the authors make use of the whole toolbox of Drosophila genetics. Nevertheless, the results are presented in a straightforward and clear way, with clear summaries at the end of each experiment that allow even those allergic to molecular genetics to follow the argument and the evidence.

First, Benton and co-workers showed that, in the absence of Or83b, OR molecules are unable to leave the endoplasmic reticulum. They then used the GAL80ts transgene to control Or83b expression in the growing or adult fly and found that when Or83b expression was `turned on' when the insects were 10 days old, the flies were able to begin expressing ORs in the receptor neuron membrane, and when Or83b was turned off at 3 days old, ORs gradually disappeared from the fly antenna, showing that olfactory receptors are being continually trafficked to the membrane surface throughout life.

To show that Or83b and ORs do in fact associate, the authors then made Or83b and OR transgenes fused to the N- or C-terminal fragments of a Yellow Fusion Protein, knowing that they would get a fluorescent signal if the receptors became associated. Sure enough, the receptors interacted, the molecule flouresced and further studies showed that this heteromer is functional.

A bioinformatics study of the predicted structure of Drosophila ORs led to the biggest surprise: the N-terminal appeared to be intracellular, rather than extracellular as in mice. This meant that the six loops of the seven transmembrane structure changed position compared with the textbooks: the bits that were thought to be outside now seemed to be inside, and vice versa. The authors tested this radical suggestion in a number of ways, including a stunning immuno-electron micrograph of a horizontal section of an antennal sensillum showing 5 nm colloidal gold `staining' of part of the OR sequence that they now predicted to be extracellular: the tiny dots were all on the outside of the dendritic membrane. The sequence and membrane topology of Drosophila ORs are very different to those of mammalian ORs.

Having provocatively demonstrated that Drosophila ORs are no more related to mouse ORs than mouse ORs are to ion channels, the authors then highlight the lack of direct evidence in the literature to demonstrate that insect ORs are in fact G-protein coupled receptors. This, coupled with the suggestion that the orientation of insect ORs is rather different to our previous understanding, will undoubtedly have ruffled some feathers amongst both scientists and textbook publishers. Buck and Axel's model has rightly become a prize-winning icon, but it might not be quite so generalised as we all thought.

  • © The Company of Biologists Limited 2006

References

  1. Benton, R., Sasche, S., Michnick, S. M. and Vosshall, L. B. (2006). Atypical membrane topology and heteromeric function of Drosophila odorant receptors in vivo. PLoS Biol. 4,e20 .
    OpenUrlCrossRefPubMed
Previous ArticleNext Article
Back to top
Previous ArticleNext Article

This Issue

 Download PDF

Email

Thank you for your interest in spreading the word on Journal of Experimental Biology.

NOTE: We only request your email address so that the person you are recommending the page to knows that you wanted them to see it, and that it is not junk mail. We do not capture any email address.

Enter multiple addresses on separate lines or separate them with commas.
OLFACTORY RECEPTORS TEAR UP THE TEXTBOOKS!
(Your Name) has sent you a message from Journal of Experimental Biology
(Your Name) thought you would like to see the Journal of Experimental Biology web site.
CAPTCHA
This question is for testing whether or not you are a human visitor and to prevent automated spam submissions.
Share
Outside JEB
OLFACTORY RECEPTORS TEAR UP THE TEXTBOOKS!
Matthew Cobb
Journal of Experimental Biology 2006 209: iv doi: 10.1242/jeb.02162
del.icio.us logo Digg logo Reddit logo Twitter logo CiteULike logo Facebook logo Google logo Mendeley logo
Citation Tools
Outside JEB
OLFACTORY RECEPTORS TEAR UP THE TEXTBOOKS!
Matthew Cobb
Journal of Experimental Biology 2006 209: iv doi: 10.1242/jeb.02162

Citation Manager Formats

  • BibTeX
  • Bookends
  • EasyBib
  • EndNote (tagged)
  • EndNote 8 (xml)
  • Medlars
  • Mendeley
  • Papers
  • RefWorks Tagged
  • Ref Manager
  • RIS
  • Zotero
Alerts

Please log in to add an alert for this article.

Sign in to email alerts with your email address

Article navigation

  • Top
  • Article
    • References
  • Info & metrics
  • PDF

Related articles

Cited by...

More in this TOC section

  • Fish want to see the light at the end of the tunnel
  • Stress in the egg makes gull chicks fitter
  • Ogre-faced spiders listen with their legs
Show more OUTSIDE JEB

Similar articles

Other journals from The Company of Biologists

Development

Journal of Cell Science

Disease Models & Mechanisms

Biology Open

Advertisement

Meet the Editors at SICB Virtual 2021

Reserve your place to join some of the journal editors, including Editor-in-Chief Craig Franklin, at our Meet the Editor session on 17 February at 2pm (EST). Don’t forget to view our SICB Subject Collection, featuring relevant JEB papers relating to some of the symposia sessions.


2020 at The Company of Biologists

Despite 2020's challenges, we were able to bring a number of long-term projects and new ventures to fruition. As we enter a new year, join us as we reflect on the triumphs of the last 12 months.


The Big Biology podcast

JEB author Christine Cooper talks to Big Biology about her research. In this fascinating JEB sponsored podcast she tells us how tough zebra finches adjust their physiology to cope with extreme climate events. 


Developmental and reproductive physiology of small mammals at high altitude

Cayleih Robertson and Kathryn Wilsterman focus on high-altitude populations of the North American deer mouse in their review of the challenges and evolutionary innovations of pregnant and nursing small mammals at high altitude.


Read & Publish participation extends worldwide

“Being able to publish Open Access articles free of charge means that my article gets maximum exposure and has maximum impact, and that all my peers can read it regardless of the agreements that their universities have with publishers.”

Professor Roi Holzman (Tel Aviv University) shares his experience of publishing Open Access as part of our growing Read & Publish initiative. We now have over 60 institutions in 12 countries taking part – find out more and view our full list of participating institutions.

Articles

  • Accepted manuscripts
  • Issue in progress
  • Latest complete issue
  • Issue archive
  • Archive by article type
  • Special issues
  • Subject collections
  • Interviews
  • Sign up for alerts

About us

  • About JEB
  • Editors and Board
  • Editor biographies
  • Travelling Fellowships
  • Grants and funding
  • Journal Meetings
  • Workshops
  • The Company of Biologists
  • Journal news

For Authors

  • Submit a manuscript
  • Aims and scope
  • Presubmission enquiries
  • Article types
  • Manuscript preparation
  • Cover suggestions
  • Editorial process
  • Promoting your paper
  • Open Access
  • Outstanding paper prize
  • Biology Open transfer

Journal Info

  • Journal policies
  • Rights and permissions
  • Media policies
  • Reviewer guide
  • Sign up for alerts

Contact

  • Contact JEB
  • Subscriptions
  • Advertising
  • Feedback

 Twitter   YouTube   LinkedIn

© 2021   The Company of Biologists Ltd   Registered Charity 277992