Odor sensitivity of cultured lobster olfactory receptor neurons is not dependent on process formation

Cultured lobster olfactory receptor neurons (ORNs) were surveyed for their odor sensitivity with whole-cell, voltage-clamp recording. The nature of the adequate stimuli, the degree of tuning (response spectra) of the cells, the threshold of sensitivity and the dual polarity of the odor-evoked currents are consistent with chemosensitivity in the cultured ORNs being olfactory. The ability of odors to evoke currents in cultured ORNs that lack processes suggests that lobster ORNs can be induced in vitro to insert all the elements of the transduction cascade in the soma, including those that might normally be confined to processes. This should greatly facilitate analysis of olfactory transduction in these cells.