This technology is a method for the isolation of odorant receptor genes in insects along with a genetic analysis of olfactory-driven behavior.
The perception of odors requires recognizing a wide array of odor molecules in both the periphery and neural mechanisms to allow for discrimination of odors. In insects, a fixed number of G protein-coupled receptors are employed to recognize a vast number of diverse odorants. Identifying the genes that encode these proteins would afford insight into the logic of olfactory perception in insects and how it affects olfactory-driven behavior.
This technology identifies a family of genes in insects that encodes odor receptors and can provide a purified insect odor receptors. Nucleic acid molecules are provided, which can hybridize with DNA encoding an insect odorant receptor and antibodies capable of specifically binding to an insect odorant receptor are also described. The invention also provides a way to identify compounds which are capable of activating insect odor receptors.
This technology has been validated in the fruit fly Drosophila.
IR 907
Licensing Contact: Joan Martinez