Olfactory sensitivity for six amino acids: a comparative study in CD-1 mice and spider monkeys |
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Authors: | Wallén Helena Engström Ida Hernandez Salazar Laura Teresa Laska Matthias |
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Institution: | 1.IFM Biology, Linköping University, 581 83, Linköping, Sweden ;2.Instituto de Neuro-Etologia, Universidad Veracruzana, 91000, Xalapa, Veracruz, Mexico ; |
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Abstract: | Using a conditioning paradigm, the olfactory sensitivity of five CD-1 mice for the l- and d-forms of cysteine, methionine, and proline was investigated. With all six stimuli, the animals discriminated concentrations
≤0.1 ppm (parts per million) from the odorless solvent, and with three of the six stimuli the best-scoring animals were even
able to detect concentrations <0.1 ppb (parts per billion). Three spider monkeys tested in parallel were found to detect the
same six stimuli at concentrations <1 ppm, and with four of the six stimuli the best-scoring animals detected concentrations
≤1 ppb. Both CD-1 mice and spider monkeys displayed a higher olfactory sensitivity with the l- and d-forms of cysteine and methionine than with the prolines, suggesting an important role of the sulfur-containing functional
groups for detectability. Accordingly, the across-odorant patterns of detection thresholds obtained with mice and spider monkeys
showed a significant positive correlation. A comparison of the detection thresholds between the two species tested here and
those obtained in human subjects suggests that neither the number of functional olfactory receptor genes nor the absolute
or the relative size of the olfactory bulbs reliably predicts a species’ olfactory sensitivity for amino acids. |
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