The Ecology of Vertebrate Olfaction

Stoddart, D. Michael

doi:10.1007/978-94-009-5869-2

Cited by 165 publications

(71 citation statements)

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“…Pheromones are perceived primarily by the vomeronasal organ (VNO), which is at the base of the nasal cavity and separated from the main olfactory epithelium that senses thousands of volatile odorants (1). It has been known for decades that some primate species, including humans, do not possess functional VNOs, and these organisms lack vomeronasal chemoreception to pheromones (1)(2)(3). This insensitivity has likely had important impacts on the sexual and social behaviors of many primates.…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

Evolutionary deterioration of the vomeronasal pheromone transduction pathway in catarrhine primates

Zhang

Webb

2003

Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A.

240

215

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Pheromones are water-soluble chemicals released and sensed by individuals of the same species to elicit social and reproductive behaviors or physiological changes; they are perceived primarily by the vomeronasal organ (VNO) in terrestrial vertebrates. Humans and some related primates possess only vestigial VNOs and have no or significantly reduced ability to detect pheromones, a phenomenon not well understood at the molecular level. Here we show that genes encoding the TRP2 ion channel and V1R pheromone receptors, two components of the vomeronasal pheromone signal transduction pathway, have been impaired and removed from functional constraints since shortly before the separation of hominoids and Old World monkeys Ϸ23 million years ago, and that the random inactivation of pheromone receptor genes is an ongoing process even in present-day humans. The phylogenetic distribution of vomeronasal pheromone insensitivity is concordant with those of conspicuous female sexual swelling and male trichromatic color vision, suggesting that a vision-based signaling-sensory mechanism may have in part replaced the VNO-mediated chemical-based system in the social͞reproductive activities of hominoids and Old World monkeys (catarrhines). P heromones are water-soluble chemicals used in intraspecific communications to elicit social and reproductive behaviors or physiological changes such as male-male aggression, onset of puberty, estrus, and induction of mating. Pheromones are perceived primarily by the vomeronasal organ (VNO), which is at the base of the nasal cavity and separated from the main olfactory epithelium that senses thousands of volatile odorants (1). It has been known for decades that some primate species, including humans, do not possess functional VNOs, and these organisms lack vomeronasal chemoreception to pheromones (1-3). This insensitivity has likely had important impacts on the sexual and social behaviors of many primates. On the other hand, behavioral changes may have also altered natural selection on vomeronasal chemoreception. It is therefore of interest to find when the vomeronasal pheromone insensitivity occurred in evolution, how it occurred, and why it occurred.Vomeronasal pheromone perception begins by the binding of pheromones to pheromone receptors located on the cell membrane of sensory neurons of the VNO, which triggers a signal transduction pathway that ultimately leads to the activation of the hypothalamus. Several components in the pathway have been identified, including GTP-binding proteins, phospholipase C, inositol 1,4,5-trisphosphate (IP3), and an ion channel of the transient receptor potential family named TRP2 (also known as TRPC2) (4). However, among members of this pathway, only TRP2 (5) and pheromone receptors of the V1R and V2R families (6-9) are unique to pheromone transduction and are not known to be used in other physiological processes. Disruption of either of these two components in mice hampers pheromone perception and causes dramatic changes in sexual and social behaviors (10-12). Th...

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confidence: 99%

Evolutionary deterioration of the vomeronasal pheromone transduction pathway in catarrhine primates

Zhang

Webb

2003

Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A.

240

215

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“…However, mammals vary in their olfactory ability (10,11). The sense of smell in primates is greatly reduced (microsmatic) with respect to other mammals such as dogs (12) or rodents (10,11).…”

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confidence: 99%

The olfactory receptor gene repertoire in primates and mouse: Evidence for reduction of the functional fraction in primates

Rouquier

Blancher

Giorgi

2000

Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A.

237

177

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“…The question as to whether a functional copy of a human V1R exists in the human genome remains open. Given the preponderence of pseudogenes and the vestigial nature of the VNO in adult catarrhines and apes (Keverne 1999;Stoddart 1980), it is possible that no functional V1R genes will be found in the human genome. Indeed, sequencing of PCR products isolated from acrocentric chromosomes using PhB4C5-specific primers demonstrated that all these sequences are copies of the PhB4C5 pseudogene.…”

Section: Genome Research 1983mentioning

confidence: 99%

Characterization of Nonfunctional V1R-like Pheromone Receptor Sequences in Human

Giorgi¹

2000

Genome Research

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The vomeronasal organ (VNO) or Jacobson's organ is responsible in terrestrial vertebrates for the sensory perception of pheromones, chemicals that elicit stereotyped behaviors among individuals of the same species. Pheromone-induced behaviors and a functional VNO have been described in a number of mammals, but the existence of this sensory system in human is still debated. Recently, two nonhomologous gene families, V1R and V2R, encoding pheromone receptors have been identified in rat. These receptors belong to the seven-transmembrane domain G-protein-coupled receptor superfamily. We sought to characterize V1R-like genes in the human genome. We have identified seven different human sequences by PCR and library screening with rodent sequences. These human sequences exhibit characteristic features of V1R receptors and show 52%-59% of amino acid sequence identity with the rat sequences. Using PCR on a monochromosomal somatic cell hybrid panel and/or FISH, we demonstrate that these V1R-like sequences are distributed on chromosomes 7, 16, 20, 13, 14, 15, 21, and 22 and possibly on additional chromosomes. One sequence hybridizes to pericentromeric locations on all the acrocentric chromosomes (13, 14, 15, 21, and 22). All of the seven V1R-like sequences analyzed show interrupted reading frames, indicating that they represent nonfunctional pseudogenes. The preponderence of pseudogenes among human V1R sequences and the striking anatomical differences between rodent and human VNO raise the possibility that humans may have lost the V1R/VNO-mediated sensory functions of rodents.

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The Ecology of Vertebrate Olfaction

Cited by 165 publications

References 0 publications

Evolutionary deterioration of the vomeronasal pheromone transduction pathway in catarrhine primates

Evolutionary deterioration of the vomeronasal pheromone transduction pathway in catarrhine primates

The olfactory receptor gene repertoire in primates and mouse: Evidence for reduction of the functional fraction in primates

Characterization of Nonfunctional V1R-like Pheromone Receptor Sequences in Human

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