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Odorant Binding Protein
Odorant-binding proteins (OBPs) are small (10 to 30 kDa) soluble proteins secreted by auxiliary cells surrounding olfactory receptor neurons, including the nasal mucus of many vertebrate species and in the sensillar lymph of chemosensory sensilla of insects. OBPs are characterized by a specific protein domain that comprises six α-helices joined by three disulfide bonds. Although the function of the OBPs as a whole is not well established, it is believed that they act as odorant transporters, delivering the odorant molecules to olfactory receptors in the cell membrane of sensory neurons. The olfactory receptors of terrestrial animals exist in an aqueous environment, yet detect odorants that are primarily hydrophobic. The aqueous solubility of hydrophobic odorants is greatly enhanced via odorant-binding proteins, which exist in the extracellular fluid surrounding the odorant receptors. This family is composed of pheromone binding proteins (PBP), which are male-specific and assoc ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Protein
Proteins are large biomolecules and macromolecules that comprise one or more long chains of amino acid residue (biochemistry), residues. Proteins perform a vast array of functions within organisms, including Enzyme catalysis, catalysing metabolic reactions, DNA replication, Cell signaling, responding to stimuli, providing Cytoskeleton, structure to cells and Fibrous protein, organisms, and Intracellular transport, transporting molecules from one location to another. Proteins differ from one another primarily in their sequence of amino acids, which is dictated by the Nucleic acid sequence, nucleotide sequence of their genes, and which usually results in protein folding into a specific Protein structure, 3D structure that determines its activity. A linear chain of amino acid residues is called a polypeptide. A protein contains at least one long polypeptide. Short polypeptides, containing less than 20–30 residues, are rarely considered to be proteins and are commonly called pep ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Antiparallel (biochemistry)
In biochemistry, two biopolymers are antiparallel if they run parallel (geometry), parallel to each other but with opposite directionality (molecular biology), directionality (alignments). An example is the two complementarity (molecular biology), complementary strands of a DNA nucleic acid double helix, double helix, which antiparallel vectors, run in opposite directions alongside each other. Nucleic acids Nucleic acid molecules have a phosphoryl (5') end and a hydroxyl (3') end. This notation follows from IUPAC nomenclature of organic chemistry, organic chemistry nomenclature, and can be used to define the movement of enzymes such as DNA polymerases relative to the DNA strand in a non-arbitrary manner. G-quadruplexes G-quadruplexes, also known as G4 DNA are secondary structures found in nucleic acids that are rich in guanine. These structures are normally located at the telomeres (the ends of the Chromosome, chromosomes). The G-quadruplex can either be parallel or antiparallel ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Olfactory Receptor Neuron
An olfactory receptor neuron (ORN), also called an olfactory sensory neuron (OSN), is a sensory neuron within the olfactory system. Structure Humans have between 10 and 20 million olfactory receptor neurons (ORNs). In vertebrates, ORNs are Bipolar neuron, bipolar neurons with dendrites facing the external surface of the cribriform plate with axons that pass through the cribriform foramina with terminal end at olfactory bulbs. The ORNs are located in the olfactory epithelium in the nasal cavity. The cell bodies of the ORNs are distributed among the wikt:stratified, stratified layers of the olfactory epithelium. Many tiny hair-like non-motile cilia protrude from the olfactory receptor cell's dendrites. The dendrites extend to the olfactory epithelial surface and each ends in a dendritic knob from which around 20 to 35 cilia protrude. The cilia have a length of up to 100 micrometres and with the cilia from other dendrites form a meshwork in the olfactory mucus. The surface of ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Olfactory Receptor
Olfactory receptors (ORs), also known as odorant receptors, are chemoreceptors expressed in the cell membranes of olfactory receptor neurons and are responsible for the detection of odorants (for example, compounds that have an odor) which give rise to the sense of smell. Activated olfactory receptors trigger nerve impulses which transmit information about odor to the brain. In vertebrates, these receptors are members of the class A rhodopsin-like family of G protein-coupled receptors (GPCRs). The olfactory receptors form the largest multigene family in vertebrates consisting of around 400 genes in humans and 1400 genes in mice. In insects, olfactory receptors are members of an unrelated group of ligand-gated ion channels. Expression In vertebrates, the olfactory receptors are located in both the cilia and synapses of the olfactory sensory neurons and in the epithelium of the human airway. Sperm cells also express odorant receptors, which are thought to be involved in ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Aroma Compound
An aroma compound, also known as an odorant, aroma, fragrance, flavoring or flavor, is a chemical compound that has a smell or odor. For an individual chemical or class of chemical compounds to impart a smell or fragrance, it must be sufficiently Volatility (chemistry), volatile for transmission via the air to the olfactory system in the upper part of the nose. As examples, various fragrant fruits have diverse aroma compounds, particularly strawberries which are plant breeding, commercially cultivated to have appealing aromas, and contain several hundred aroma compounds. Generally, molecules meeting this specification have molecular weights of less than 310. Flavors affect both the sense of taste and Olfaction, smell, whereas fragrances affect only smell. Flavors tend to be naturally occurring, and the term ''fragrances'' may also apply to synthetic compounds, such as those used in cosmetics. Aroma compounds can naturally be found in various foods, such as fruits and their pe ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Insect Pheromone-binding Protein
In molecular biology, the insect pheromone-binding family A10/OS-D is a family of small helical proteins postulated to contribute to the specificity of the insect’s olfactory system by binding components of the natural pheromone mixtures. A class of small (14-20 Kd) water-soluble proteins, called pheromone binding proteins, first discovered in the insect sensillar lymph but also found in the mucus of vertebrates, is postulated to mediate the solubilisation of hydrophobic odorant molecules, and thereby to facilitate their transport to the receptor neurons. The product of a gene expressed in the olfactory system of ''Drosophila melanogaster'' (Fruit fly), OS-D, shares features common to vertebrate odorant binding proteins, but has a primary structure unlike odorant-binding proteins. OS-D derivatives have subsequently been found in chemosensory organs of phylogenetically distinct insects, including cockroaches, phasmids and moths, suggesting that OS-D-like proteins seem to be ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Arthropod
Arthropods ( ) are invertebrates in the phylum Arthropoda. They possess an arthropod exoskeleton, exoskeleton with a cuticle made of chitin, often Mineralization (biology), mineralised with calcium carbonate, a body with differentiated (Metamerism (biology), metameric) Segmentation (biology), segments, and paired jointed appendages. In order to keep growing, they must go through stages of moulting, a process by which they shed their exoskeleton to reveal a new one. They form an extremely diverse group of up to ten million species. Haemolymph is the analogue of blood for most arthropods. An arthropod has an open circulatory system, with a body cavity called a haemocoel through which haemolymph circulates to the interior Organ (anatomy), organs. Like their exteriors, the internal organs of arthropods are generally built of repeated segments. They have ladder-like nervous systems, with paired Anatomical terms of location#Dorsal and ventral, ventral Ventral nerve cord, nerve cord ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Red Flour Beetle
The red flour beetle (''Tribolium castaneum'') is a species of beetle in the family Tenebrionidae, the darkling beetles. The red flour beetle, and other closely related beetles like '' Gnatocerus cornutus'', are a worldwide pest of stored products, particularly food grains, and a model organism for ethological and food safety research. Description Adult beetles are small, around 3–4 mm long (1/8 inches), of a uniform rust, brown or black color. Head and pronotum are sometimes darker than rest of body. Ecology The red flour beetle attacks stored grain and other food products including flour, cereals, pasta, biscuits, beans, and nuts, causing loss and damage. The United Nations, in a recent post-harvest compendium, estimated that ''Tribolium castaneum'' and ''Tribolium confusum'', the confused flour beetle, are "the two most common secondary pests of all plant commodities in store throughout the world." A research on hermetic storage of wheat and maize flour protects aga ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Bombyx Mori
''Bombyx mori'', commonly known as the domestic silk moth, is a moth species belonging to the family Bombycidae. It is the closest relative of '' Bombyx mandarina'', the wild silk moth. Silkworms are the larvae of silk moths. The silkworm is of particular economic value, being a primary producer of silk. The silkworm's preferred food are the leaves of white mulberry, though they may eat other species of mulberry, and even leaves of other plants like the Osage orange. Domestic silk moths are entirely dependent on humans for reproduction, as a result of millennia of selective breeding. Wild silk moths, which are other species of ''Bombyx'', are not as commercially viable in the production of silk. Sericulture, the practice of breeding silkworms for the production of raw silk, has existed for at least 5,000 years in China, whence it spread to India, Korea, Nepal, Japan, and then the West. The conventional process of sericulture kills the silkworm in the pupal stage. The domestic s ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Western Honey Bee
The western honey bee or European honey bee (''Apis mellifera'') is the most common of the 7–12 species of honey bees worldwide. The genus name ''Apis'' is Latin for 'bee', and ''mellifera'' is the Latin for 'honey-bearing' or 'honey-carrying', referring to the species' production of honey. Like all honey bee species, the western honey bee is Eusociality, eusocial, creating Beehive, colonies with a single fertile female (or "Queen bee, queen"), many normally non-reproductive females or "workers", and a small proportion of fertile males or "Drone (bee), drones". Individual colonies can house tens of thousands of bees. Colony activities are organized by Bee learning and communication, complex communication between individuals, through both pheromones and the waggle dance. The western honey bee was one of the first Domestication, domesticated insects, and it is the primary species maintained by beekeepers to this day for both its honey production and pollination activities. With h ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Anopheles Gambiae
The ''Anopheles gambiae'' complex consists of at least seven morphologically indistinguishable species of mosquitoes in the genus ''Anopheles''. The complex was recognised in the 1960s and includes the most important vectors of malaria in sub-Saharan Africa, particularly of the most dangerous malaria parasite, ''Plasmodium falciparum''. It is one of the most efficient malaria vectors known. The ''An. gambiae'' mosquito additionally transmits ''Wuchereria bancrofti'' which causes lymphatic filariasis, a symptom of which is elephantiasis. Discovery and elements The ''Anopheles gambiae'' complex or ''Anopheles gambiae'' sensu lato was recognized as a species complex only in the 1960s. The ''A. gambiae'' complex consists of: * '' Anopheles arabiensis'' Patton, 1905 * '' Anopheles bwambae'' White, 1985 * '' Anopheles melas'' Theobald, 1903 * '' Anopheles merus'' Dönitz, 1902 * '' Anopheles quadriannulatus'' (Theobald, 1911) * ''Anopheles gambiae'' Giles, 1902 sensu stricto (s.s. ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Ectopic Expression
Ectopic is a word used with a prefix ecto-, meaning “out of”, and the suffix -topic, meaning "place." Ectopic expression is an abnormal gene expression in a cell type, tissue type, or developmental stage in which the gene is not usually expressed. The term ectopic expression is predominantly used in studies using metazoans, especially in ''Drosophila melanogaster'' for research purposes. How is it used Although ectopic expression can be caused by a natural condition, it is uncommonly seen in nature because it is a product of defects in gene regulation. In fact, ectopic expression is more commonly used for research purposes. Artificially induced gene expression helps to determine the function of a gene of interest. Common techniques such as overexpressing or misexpressing the genes by ''UA' system in ''D. melanogaster'' are used. In model organisms, such techniques are used to perform genetic screens to identify a function of the gene involved in specific cellular or development ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
