Biomaterial Database

Spatial patterning and information coding in the olfactory system. 1995

S L Sullivan, and K J Ressler, and L B Buck

Howard Hughes Medical Institute, Boston, USA.

The ability of mammals to discriminate thousands of structurally diverse odorants appears to derive from the existence of a multigene family that encodes approximately 1000 different odorant receptors. Recent studies have used this family to explore how the olfactory system organizes sensory information. These studies reveal striking patterns of organization suggesting that incoming sensory information is first broadly organized in the nose and is then transformed in the olfactory bulb into a stereotyped and highly organized spatial map.

UI	MeSH Term	Description	Entries
D008322	Mammals	Warm-blooded vertebrate animals belonging to the class Mammalia, including all that possess hair and suckle their young.	Mammalia,Mammal
D009666	Nose	A part of the upper respiratory tract. It contains the organ of SMELL. The term includes the external nose, the nasal cavity, and the PARANASAL SINUSES.	External Nose,External Noses,Nose, External,Noses,Noses, External
D009833	Olfactory Pathways	Set of nerve fibers conducting impulses from olfactory receptors to the cerebral cortex. It includes the OLFACTORY NERVE; OLFACTORY BULB; OLFACTORY TRACT; OLFACTORY TUBERCLE; ANTERIOR PERFORATED SUBSTANCE; and OLFACTORY CORTEX.	Olfactory Pathway,Pathway, Olfactory,Pathways, Olfactory
D005810	Multigene Family	A set of genes descended by duplication and variation from some ancestral gene. Such genes may be clustered together on the same chromosome or dispersed on different chromosomes. Examples of multigene families include those that encode the hemoglobins, immunoglobulins, histocompatibility antigens, actins, tubulins, keratins, collagens, heat shock proteins, salivary glue proteins, chorion proteins, cuticle proteins, yolk proteins, and phaseolins, as well as histones, ribosomal RNA, and transfer RNA genes. The latter three are examples of reiterated genes, where hundreds of identical genes are present in a tandem array. (King & Stanfield, A Dictionary of Genetics, 4th ed)	Gene Clusters,Genes, Reiterated,Cluster, Gene,Clusters, Gene,Families, Multigene,Family, Multigene,Gene Cluster,Gene, Reiterated,Multigene Families,Reiterated Gene,Reiterated Genes
D000818	Animals	Unicellular or multicellular, heterotrophic organisms, that have sensation and the power of voluntary movement. Under the older five kingdom paradigm, Animalia was one of the kingdoms. Under the modern three domain model, Animalia represents one of the many groups in the domain EUKARYOTA.	Animal,Metazoa,Animalia
D012903	Smell	The ability to detect scents or odors, such as the function of OLFACTORY RECEPTOR NEURONS.	Olfaction,Sense of Smell,Smell Sense
D018035	Receptors, Odorant	Proteins, usually projecting from the cilia of olfactory receptor neurons, that specifically bind odorant molecules and trigger responses in the neurons. The large number of different odorant receptors appears to arise from several gene families or subfamilies rather than from DNA rearrangement.	Odorant Receptors,Olfactory Receptor Proteins,Odor Receptor Protein,Odorant Receptor,Olfactory Receptor,Olfactory Receptor Protein,Olfactory Receptors,Receptor Proteins, Odorant,Receptor Proteins, Olfactory,Odorant Receptor Proteins,Protein, Odor Receptor,Protein, Olfactory Receptor,Proteins, Odorant Receptor,Proteins, Olfactory Receptor,Receptor Protein, Odor,Receptor Protein, Olfactory,Receptor, Odorant,Receptor, Olfactory,Receptors, Olfactory