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Updated: Aug 6, 2026
12:02
High-throughput Analysis of Mammalian Olfactory Receptors: Measurement of Receptor Activation via Luciferase Activity
Published on: June 2, 2014
Evolution of odorant receptors
1Department of Biology and Biochemistry, University of Houston, Houston, TX 77204-5513, USA. Idryer@bayou.uh.edu
Summary
Odorant receptors (ORs), crucial for smell, show significant structural diversity across species. This review explores how these variations impact the evolution of smell and chemoreception.
Area of Science:
- Olfactory receptor research
- Evolutionary biology
- Molecular biology
Background:
- Odorant receptors (ORs) initiate odor detection in the nasal epithelium.
- ORs are the largest and most diverse family of G-protein-coupled receptors (GPCRs).
- ORs are encoded by multigene families found across various animal phyla.
Purpose of the Study:
- To review the evolutionary implications of OR diversity.
- To analyze the divergent primary structures of chemoreceptors with conserved functions.
Main Methods:
- Comparative analysis of OR gene sequences across different species.
- Examination of emerging sequence data to understand OR structural variations.
- Literature review on the evolution of chemoreceptors.
Main Results:
- OR primary structures exhibit dramatic variations across different animal phyla.
- Some chemoreceptors possess genes with low sequence similarity to mammalian ORs.
- A substantial number of OR sequences are available for evolutionary studies.
Conclusions:
- OR diversity has significant evolutionary implications for chemosensation.
- Understanding structural divergence is key to comprehending the evolution of smell.
- Comparative genomics reveals insights into the functional evolution of ORs.
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