title: Odorant receptor gene regulation: implications from genomic organization.
abstract: Odorant receptor genes comprise the largest known family of G-protein-coupled receptors in vertebrates. These receptor genes are tightly clustered in the genomes of every vertebrate organism investigated, including zebrafish, mice and humans, and they appear to have expanded and duplicated throughout evolution. In a mechanism that has yet to be elucidated, each olfactory neuron expresses a single receptor gene. This highly restricted expression pattern underlies the ability to distinguish between a wide variety of odorants. Here, we address the evolutionary expansion of odorant receptor genes and the role genomic organization of these genes might have in their tightly regulated expression.
authors.affiliation: Department of Molecular and Cell Biology, Helen Wills Neuroscience Institute, University of California, Berkeley, California 94720, USA.
authors.forename: Erica
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Kratz
authors.forename: Jason C
authors.initials: JC
authors.lastname: Dugas
authors.forename: John
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Ngai
mesh_terms: D000483:Alleles; D000818:Animals; D005075:Biological Evolution; D005786:Gene Expression Regulation; D016678:Genome; D006801:Humans; D051379:Mice; D008957:Models, Genetic; D005810:Multigene Family; D018034:Olfactory Receptor Neurons / Q000378:metabolism; D018035:Receptors, Odorant / Q000235:genetics*; D015027:Zebrafish / Q000235:genetics
chemical_list: D018035:Receptors, Odorant