Molecular messages from moth antennae: Scientists assemble genes involved in regulating olfaction

Insects use their antennae for smelling and thus for locating resources in their environment. In a new study, 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 odours and to perform relevant door-guided behaviours. This is the first more or less complete antennal transcriptome characterized in a non-model insect.

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