Organization and function of Drosophila odorant binding proteins

  1. Nikki K Larter
  2. Jennifer S Sun
  3. John R Carlson  Is a corresponding author
  1. Yale University, United States

Abstract

Odorant binding proteins (Obps) are remarkable in their number, diversity, and abundance, yet their role in olfactory coding remains unclear. They are widely believed to be required for transporting hydrophobic odorants through an aqueous lymph to odorant receptors. We construct a map of the Drosophila antenna, in which the abundant Obps are mapped to olfactory sensilla with defined functions. The results lay a foundation for an incisive analysis of Obp function. The map identifies a sensillum type that contains a single abundant Obp, Obp28a. Surprisingly, deletion of the sole abundant Obp in these sensilla does not reduce the magnitude of their olfactory responses. The results suggest that this Obp is not required for odorant transport and that this sensillum does not require an abundant Obp. The results further suggest a novel role for this Obp in buffering changes in the odor environment, perhaps providing a molecular form of gain control.

Article and author information

Author details

  1. Nikki K Larter

    Department of Molecular, Cellular and Developmental Biology, Yale University, New Haven, United States
    Competing interests
    The authors declare that no competing interests exist.
    ORCID icon "This ORCID iD identifies the author of this article:" 0000-0002-1938-1929
  2. Jennifer S Sun

    Department of Molecular, Cellular and Developmental Biology, Yale University, New Haven, United States
    Competing interests
    The authors declare that no competing interests exist.
    ORCID icon "This ORCID iD identifies the author of this article:" 0000-0002-4274-0504
  3. John R Carlson

    Department of Molecular, Cellular and Developmental Biology, Yale University, New Haven, United States
    For correspondence
    john.carlson@yale.edu
    Competing interests
    The authors declare that no competing interests exist.
    ORCID icon "This ORCID iD identifies the author of this article:" 0000-0002-0244-5180

Funding

National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders

  • John R Carlson

National Science Foundation

  • Nikki K Larter
  • Jennifer S Sun

National Institutes of Health

  • Jennifer S Sun

Dwight N. and Noyes D. Clark Scholarship Fund

  • Jennifer S Sun

The funders had no role in study design, data collection and interpretation, or the decision to submit the work for publication.

Copyright

© 2016, Larter et al.

This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License permitting unrestricted use and redistribution provided that the original author and source are credited.

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  1. Nikki K Larter
  2. Jennifer S Sun
  3. John R Carlson
(2016)
Organization and function of Drosophila odorant binding proteins
eLife 5:e20242.
https://doi.org/10.7554/eLife.20242

Share this article

https://doi.org/10.7554/eLife.20242

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