
@article {59715,
	title = {A Functional Agonist of Insect Olfactory Receptors: Behavior, Physiology and Structure.},
	journal = {Front Cell Neurosci},
	volume = {13},
	year = {2019},
	month = {2019},
	pages = {134},
	abstract = {<p>Chemical signaling is ubiquitous and employs a variety of receptor types to detect the cacophony of molecules relevant for each living organism. Insects, our most diverse taxon, have evolved unique olfactory receptors with as little as 10\% sequence identity between receptor types. We have identified a promiscuous volatile, 2-methyltetrahydro-3-furanone (coffee furanone), that elicits chemosensory and behavioral activity across multiple insect orders and receptors. and physiology showed that coffee furanone was detected by roughly 80\% of the recorded neurons expressing the insect-specific olfactory receptor complex in the antenna of , at concentrations similar to other known, and less promiscuous, ligands. Neurons expressing specialized receptors, other chemoreceptor types, or mutants lacking the complex entirely did not respond to this compound. This indicates that coffee furanone is a promiscuous ligand for the insect olfactory receptor complex itself and did not induce non-specific cellular responses. In addition, we present homology modeling and docking studies with selected olfactory receptors that suggest conserved interaction regions for both coffee furanone and known ligands. Apart from its physiological activity, this known food additive elicits a behavioral response for several insects, including mosquitoes, flies, and cockroaches. A broad-scale behaviorally active molecule non-toxic to humans thus has significant implications for health and agriculture. Coffee furanone serves as a unique tool to unlock molecular, physiological, and behavioral relationships across this diverse receptor family and animal taxa.</p>
},
	issn = {1662-5102},
	doi = {10.3389/fncel.2019.00134},
	author = {Batra, Srishti and Corcoran, Jacob and Zhang, Dan-Dan and Pal, Pramit and K P, Umesh and Kulkarni, Renuka and L{\"o}fstedt, Christer and Sowdhamini, Ramanathan and Olsson, Shannon B}
}
@article {11586,
	title = {Sensory specificity and speciation: a potential neuronal pathway for host fruit odour discrimination in Rhagoletis pomonella.},
	journal = {Proc Biol Sci},
	volume = {283},
	year = {2016},
	month = {2016 Dec 28},
	abstract = {<p>Behavioural changes in habitat or mate choice can trigger population divergence, leading to speciation. However, little is known about the neurological bases for such changes. Rhagoletis pomonella (Diptera: Tephritidae) is a model for ecological speciation via host plant shifts. Within the past 180 years, Rhagoletis flies infesting hawthorn (Crataegus spp.) shifted to attack domesticated apple (Malus pumila). The two populations differ in their olfactory preferences for apple versus hawthorn fruit. Here, we looked for patterns of sensory organization that may have contributed to this shift by characterizing the morphology, specificity and distribution of olfactory sensory neurons (OSNs) on the antennae of Rhagoletis responding to host fruit and non-host volatiles. Of 28 OSN classes identified, two colocalized OSN pairs were found that specifically responded to the major behavioural attractant and antagonist volatiles for each fly population. A reversal in the response of these OSNs to fruit volatiles, either through a switch in receptor expression between these paired neurons or changes in neuronal projections in the brain, could therefore account for the behavioural difference between apple and hawthorn flies. The finding supports the hypothesis that relatively minor changes in olfactory sensory pathways may contribute to rapid host shifting and divergence in Rhagoletis.</p>
},
	issn = {1471-2954},
	doi = {10.1098/rspb.2016.2101},
	author = {Tait, Cheyenne and Batra, Srishti and Ramaswamy, Sree Subha and Feder, Jeffrey L and Olsson, Shannon B}
}
