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Updated: Aug 8, 2026

High-throughput Analysis of Mammalian Olfactory Receptors: Measurement of Receptor Activation via Luciferase Activity
Published on: June 2, 2014
The mouse olfactory receptor gene family
Paul A Godfrey1, Bettina Malnic, Linda B Buck
1Howard Hughes Medical Institute, Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center, 1100 Fairview Avenue North, Seattle, WA 98109, USA.
Researchers cataloged mouse olfactory receptors (ORs), identifying 913 genes across 51 loci. Mouse ORs show greater subfamily diversity than humans, suggesting enhanced odor sensitivity and discrimination capabilities in mice.
Area of Science:
- Genomics
- Olfactory receptor research
- Mammalian sensory systems
Background:
- Mammalian odor detection relies on diverse olfactory receptors (ORs) used combinatorially.
- ORs are classified into subfamilies recognizing structurally similar odorants.
- Understanding OR gene families provides insight into odor detection mechanisms.
Purpose of the Study:
- To comprehensively analyze the mouse olfactory receptor gene family.
- To characterize the organization and diversity of mouse OR genes.
- To compare mouse and human OR gene families for evolutionary insights.
Main Methods:
- Exhaustive searches of a mouse genome database.
- Sequence comparisons and phylogenetic analysis of OR genes.
- Chromosomal localization analysis of OR gene loci.
Main Results:
- Identified 913 intact mouse OR genes and 296 pseudogenes across 51 chromosomal loci.
- Discovered 241 mouse OR subfamilies with varying sizes, indicating differential odorant detection capabilities.
- Found that most subfamilies are encoded by single loci, suggesting functional specialization.
- Comparative analysis revealed shared and distinct OR subfamilies between mice and humans, with mice possessing larger subfamilies.
Conclusions:
- The extensive mouse OR repertoire and subfamily diversity suggest a high capacity for odor discrimination.
- Differential subfamily sizes imply varying importance or detectability of certain odorant classes.
- Locus-specific subfamily organization points to potential functional clustering of OR genes.
- Mice may exhibit superior odor sensitivity and discrimination compared to humans due to their larger OR subfamilies.
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