Two classes of olfactory receptors in Xenopus laevis
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Updated: Nov 4, 2026

Functional Evaluation of Olfactory Pathways in Living Xenopus Tadpoles
Published on: December 11, 2018
J Freitag1, J Krieger, J Strotmann
1University Stuttgart-Hohenheim, Institute of Zoophysiology, Stuttgart, Federal Republic of Germany.
Abstract:
Xenopus laevis possess a gene repertoire encoding two distinct classes of olfactory receptors: one class related to receptors of fish and one class similar to receptors of mammals. Sequence comparison indicates that the fish-like receptors represent closely related members of only two subfamilies, whereas mammalian-like receptors are more distantly related, most of them representing a different subfamily. The fish-like receptor genes are exclusively expressed in the lateral diverticulum of the frog's nose, specialized for detecting water-soluble odorants, whereas mammalian-like receptors are expressed in sensory neurons of the main diverticulum, responsible for the reception of volatile odors.
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