Molecular messages from the antennae

(PhysOrg.com) -- Insects use their antennae for smelling and thus for locating resources in their environment. In an online first article published today, Max Planck researchers present the first complete analysis of genes involved in antennal olfaction of the tobacco hornworm Manduca sexta. Approximately 70 different receptors expressed in some 100,000 neurons allow these moths to detect a large number of odors and to perform relevant door-guided behaviors. This is the first more or less complete antennal transcriptome characterized in a non-model insect.

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