Taisz, I., Donà, E., Münch, D., Bailey, S.N., Morris, B.J., Meechan, K.I., Stevens, K.M., Varela-Martínez, I., Gkantia, M., Schlegel, P., Ribeiro, C., Jefferis, G.S.X.E., Galili, D.S. (2023). Generating parallel representations of position and identity in the olfactory system.  Cell 186(12): 2556--2573.e22.

FBrf0256726

Research paper

In Drosophila, a dedicated olfactory channel senses a male pheromone, cis-vaccenyl acetate (cVA), promoting female courtship while repelling males. Here, we show that separate cVA-processing streams extract qualitative and positional information. cVA sensory neurons respond to concentration differences in a 5-mm range around a male. Second-order projection neurons encode the angular position of a male by detecting inter-antennal differences in cVA concentration, which are amplified through contralateral inhibition. At the third circuit layer, we identify 47 cell types with diverse input-output connectivity. One population responds tonically to male flies, a second is tuned to olfactory looming, while a third integrates cVA and taste to coincidentally promote female mating. The separation of olfactory features resembles the mammalian what and where visual streams; together with multisensory integration, this enables behavioral responses appropriate to specific ethological contexts.

PMC10403364 (PMC) (EuropePMC)