Cell
Volume 79, Issue 6, 16 December 1994, Pages 971-980
Journal home page for Cell

The C. elegans gene odr-7 encodes an olfactory-specific member of the nuclear receptor superfamily

https://doi.org/10.1016/0092-8674(94)90028-0Get rights and content

Abstract

Olfactory discrimination is achieved through the action of olfactory neurons with diverse chemical specificities. In C. elegans, at least ten different types of chemosensory neurons respond to different chemicals. The odr-7 gene is required for the function of one pair of chemosensory neurons called AWA neurons. odr-7 null mutants fail to respond to all odorants detected by the AWA neurons, while a missense mutation in odr-7 causes a specific defect in one odorant response. odr-7 encodes a protein with similarity to the DNA-binding domain of the nuclear receptor genes; it is expressed predominantly in the AWA neurons. odr-7 may regulate the expression of olfactory signaling molecules that define a single type of olfactory neuron.

References (61)

  • GoutteC. et al.

    Yeast a 1 and α2 homeodomain proteins form a DNA-binding activity with properties distinct from those of either protein

    J. Mol. Biol.

    (1993)
  • JanY.N. et al.

    HLH proteins, fly neurogenesis and vertebrate myogenesis

    Cell

    (1993)
  • KleinR.D. et al.

    Independent domains of the Sdc-3 protein control sex determination and dosage compensation in C. elegans

    Cell

    (1993)
  • KrauseM. et al.

    A trans-spliced leader sequence on actin mRNA in C. elegans

    Cell

    (1987)
  • NgaiJ. et al.

    Coding of olfactory information: topography of odorant receptor expression in the catfish olfactory epithelium

    Cell

    (1993)
  • PignoniF. et al.

    The Drosophila gene tailless is expressed at the embryonic termini and is a member of the steroid receptor superfamily

    Cell

    (1990)
  • ResslerK. et al.

    A zonal organization of odorant receptor gene expression in the olfactory epithelium

    Cell

    (1993)
  • SchwabeJ.W. et al.

    The crystal structure of the estrógen receptor DNA-binding domain bound to DNA: how receptors discriminate between their response elements

    Cell

    (1993)
  • SicardG. et al.

    Receptor cell responses to odorants: similarities and differences among odorants

    Brain Res.

    (1984)
  • UmesonoK. et al.

    Determinants of target gene specificity for steroid/thyroid hormone receptors

    Cell

    (1989)
  • VassarR. et al.

    Spatial segregation of odorant receptor expression in the mammalian olfactory epithelium

    Cell

    (1993)
  • WangB.B. et al.

    A homeotic gene cluster patterns the anteroposterior body axis of C. elegans

    Cell

    (1993)
  • AatsinkiJ.T. et al.

    A coupled one-step reverse transcription PCR procedure for generation of full-length open reading frames

    Biotechniques

    (1994)
  • BaniahmadA. et al.

    Mechanisms of transcriptional activation by steroid hormone receptors

    J. Cell. Biochem.

    (1993)
  • BargmannC.I. et al.

    Control of larval development by chemosensory neurons in Caenorhabditis elegans

    Science

    (1991)
  • BargmannC.I. et al.

    Chemosensory cell function in the behavior and development of Caenorhabditis elegans

  • Ben-ArieN. et al.

    Olfactory receptor gene cluster on human chromosome 17: possible duplication of an ancestral receptor repertoire

    Hum. Mol. Genet.

    (1994)
  • BrennerS.

    The genetics of Caenorhabditis elegans

    Genetics

    (1974)
  • BurnsK. et al.

    Modulation of gene expression by calreticulin binding to the glucocorticoid receptor

    Nature

    (1994)
  • ChalfieM. et al.

    Green fluorescent protein as a marker for gene expression

    Science

    (1994)
  • Cited by (170)

    • A single chemosensory GPCR is required for a concentration-dependent behavioral switching in C. elegans

      2022, Current Biology
      Citation Excerpt :

      Two pairs of amphid chemosensory neurons, AWC and AWA, are required for chemotaxis to most, if not all, volatile odors.5 To determine which chemosensory neurons mediate attraction to these compounds, we first examined chemotaxis to these compounds in the AWC-defective ceh-36 OTX transcription factor mutant and the AWA-defective odr-7 nuclear receptor mutant.14,15 We found that ceh-36 mutants exhibited little or no attraction to all three compounds, whereas odr-7 mutants showed normal or even increased chemotaxis to them (Figures 1F–1H).

    View all citing articles on Scopus
    View full text