Written by leaders in the field of chemosensation, Chemosensory Transduction provides a comprehensive resource for understanding the molecular mechanisms that allow animals to detect their chemical world. The text focuses on mammals, but also includes several chapters on chemosensory transduction mechanisms in lower vertebrates and insects. This book examines transduction mechanisms in the olfactory, taste, and somatosensory (chemesthetic) systems as well as in a variety of internal sensors that are responsible for homeostatic regulation of the body. Chapters cover such topics as social odors in mammals, vertebrate and invertebrate olfactory receptors, peptide signaling in taste and gut nutrient sensing. Includes a foreword by preeminent olfactory scientist Stuart Firestein, Chair of Columbia University’s Department of Biological Sciences in New York, NY. Chemosensory Transduction describes state-of-the-art approaches and key findings related to the study of the chemical senses. Thus, it serves as the go-to reference for this subject for practicing scientists and students with backgrounds in sensory biology and/or neurobiology. The volume will also be valuable for industry researchers engaged in the design or testing of flavors, fragrances, foods and/or pharmaceuticals. Provides a comprehensive overview for all chemosensory transduction mechanisms Valuable for academics focused on sensory biology, neurobiology, and chemosensory transduction, as well as industry researchers in new flavor, fragrance, and food testing Edited by leading experts in the field of olfactory transduction Focuses on mammals, but lower vertebrates and invertebrate model systems are also included

Recent application of the techniques of molecular biology and patch-clamp physiology has led to rapid advances in understanding the molecular events in chemosensory transduction. In this book, the latest results are presented and discussed by leading scientists. The extensive coverage encompasses many important topics, including mucous domains; microchemical heterogeneity in the mucociliary complex of the olfactory epithelium; membrane currents and mechanisms of olfactory transduction, and genetic and pathological taste variation.

The ability of metazoans to sense and interpret the external chemical environment is conferred by the chemosensory nervous system governing the senses of smell and taste. Chemosensory neurons convey external stimuli in the form of electrical impulses, as well as by changes in gene expression. This thesis describes the genetic elucidation of a Caenorhabditis elegans molecular pathway that transduces the presence of pathogens to activate the transcription of a neuroendocrine ligand. Previously, our group has showed that secondary metabolites produced by the pathogen P. aeruginosa cause an expression pattern change of the gene coding for the C. elegans TGF-beta ligand DAF-7. Using forward and reverse genetic approaches, we identified several cGMP-related components that are essential for the pathway, including a subunit for cyclic nucleotide-gated channels, CNG-2, and a cGMP-dependent kinase, EGL-4. We show that while CNG-2 induces daf-7 expression in a calcium-dependent manner, EGL-4 likely works in a calcium-independent manner to regulate daf-7 expression. Our data suggest that EGL-4 acts by selectively promoting the transcription of neuronal genes in response to appropriate stimuli. In a separate set of experiments, we also showed that the expression of daf-7 is discretely regulated by different classes of intraflagellar transport proteins that function in cilia.

Comprehensive Overview of Advances in OlfactionThe common belief is that human smell perception is much reduced compared with other mammals, so that whatever abilities are uncovered and investigated in animal research would have little significance for humans. However, new evidence from a variety of sources indicates this traditional view is likely

The sense of smell has an essential role in locating food, detecting predators, navigating, and communicating social information. Accordingly, the olfactory system has evolved complex repertoires of receptors to face these problems. Although the sense of taste has less far-reaching tasks, they are every bit as essential for the animals well-being, allowing it to reject toxic materials and to select nutritionally valuable food. The last decade has seen a massive advance in understanding the molecular logic of chemosensory information processing, beyond that already achieved in the rst few years following Linda Bucks discovery of odorant receptors. Shortly afterwards, the major principles of olfactory representation had been established in mammals as the one neuron/ one receptor rule and the convergence of neurons, which express the same receptor, onto individual modules in the olfactory bulb. In recent years, such studies have been extended to lower vertebrates, including shes and other phyla, i. e. , arthropods, worms, and insects, showing both the general validity of these concepts and some exceptions to the rule. In parallel, hallmarks of the molecular logic of taste sensation have been deciphered and found to differ in interesting ways from those of smell sensation.