Department of Molecular, Cellular, and Developmental Biology, Yale University, New Haven, CT 06520-8103, USA.
Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2011 Aug 9;108(32):12987-95. doi: 10.1073/pnas.1103472108. Epub 2011 Jul 11.
Great progress has been made in the field of insect olfaction in recent years. Receptors, neurons, and circuits have been defined in considerable detail, and the mechanisms by which they detect, encode, and process sensory stimuli are being unraveled. We provide a guide to recent progress in the field, with special attention to advances made in the genetic model organism Drosophila. We highlight key questions that merit additional investigation. We then present our view of how recent advances may be applied to the control of disease-carrying insects such as mosquitoes, which transmit disease to hundreds of millions of people each year. We suggest how progress in defining the basic mechanisms of insect olfaction may lead to means of disrupting host-seeking and other olfactory behaviors, thereby reducing the transmission of deadly diseases.
近年来,昆虫嗅觉领域取得了重大进展。已经相当详细地定义了受体、神经元和回路,并且正在揭示它们检测、编码和处理感觉刺激的机制。我们提供了该领域的最新进展指南,特别关注遗传模式生物果蝇取得的进展。我们强调了值得进一步研究的关键问题。然后,我们介绍了我们对如何将最近的进展应用于控制携带疾病的昆虫(如每年为数亿人传播疾病的蚊子)的看法。我们建议如何在定义昆虫嗅觉的基本机制方面取得进展,可能导致破坏宿主寻找和其他嗅觉行为的方法,从而减少致命疾病的传播。