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Updated: Jun 19, 2026

Electrophysiological Recording from Drosophila Trichoid Sensilla in Response to Odorants of Low Volatility
Published on: July 27, 2017
Sequence variations at the human leukocyte antigen-linked olfactory receptor cluster do not influence female
Emma E Thompson1, Gabe Haller, Jayant M Pinto
1Department of Human Genetics, The University of Chicago, Chicago, Illinois, USA. eethomps@uchicago.edu
Abstract:
We previously reported that paternally inherited human leukocyte antigen (HLA) alleles are a template for women's preferences for male odors (p = 0.0007). However, it has been suggested that sequence variation in a nearby olfactory receptor (OR) cluster on chromosome 6p influences smell preference. To determine whether the HLA-linked OR genes contribute to previously observed HLA-mediated behaviors, we use the odor preference data from our earlier study in combination with a new resequencing study of four functional, HLA-linked OR genes in the same subjects. Our results indicate that OR alleles in the genes surveyed are not in linkage disequilibrium with HLA variation and do not explain the previous findings of HLA-associated odor preference.
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