Chemoreceptors, biological

Ache and coworkers demonstrated that both cyclic nucleotides and inositol phosphates mediate the transduction of environmental chemical signals by the olfactory neurons of P. argus.62 65 Both biochemical and molecular biological techniques have shown that the receptor cells contain various G-protein subunits that would be necessary for signal detection by G-protein-associated chemoreceptors.48 49 66-69 In combination with electrophysiological studies,... 

Derby, C. D. and Atema, J., Chemoreceptor cells in aquatic invertebrates peripheral filtering mechanisms in decapod crustaceans, Sensory Biology of Aquatic Animals, Atema, J., Fay, R. R., Popper, A. N. and Tavolga, W. N., Eds., Springer-Verlag, New York, 1988, 365. 

Derby, C. D., Single unit electrophysiological recordings from crustacean chemoreceptor neurons, in Experimental Biology of Taste and Olfaction Current Techniques and Protocols, Spielman, A. I. and Brand, J. G., Eds., CRC Press, Boca Raton, FL, 1995, 241. 

This volume contains the papers presented in a symposium on carbohydrate-protein interaction. The symposium was devoted to an exploration of protein-glycoconjugate interaction in a wide range of biological phenomena the interaction of enzymes, antibodies, and lectins with complementary carbohydrate molecules the recognition of carbohydrate-containing structures by chemoreceptors such as taste and other plasma membrane proteins and the role of carbohydrates in the organization of connective tissue. 

Instead of isolating, stabilizing, and immobilizing chemoreceptors onto electrodes, it is possible to use intact biological sensing structures for determining relevant chemical stimulants (88,89). This novel concept was illustrated with antennule structures of the blue crab. Such structures are part of the crab food-... 

A similar sequence of events occurs in biological chemoreceptors under the action of very complex biomolecules and membranes. 

Atema J (1985) Chemoreception in the sea adaptations of chemoreceptors and behaviour to aquatic stimulus conditions. In Laverack MS (ed) Society of experimental biology symposium 39 physiological adaptations of marine animals. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, pp 3X7-423... 

Laverack MS (1988) The diversity of chemoreceptors. In Atema J, Fay RR, Popper AN, Tavolga WN (eds) Sensory biology of aquatic animal. Springer, Heidelberg, pp 287-312... 

Fig. 12.2 Chemosensors of spiny lobsters, (a) Chemosensors are found on all appendages and body surfaces, (b, c) The antennules are covered with different types of chemosensilla, including several in the aesthetasc tuft aesthetasc sensilla (a), guard sensilla (gs), companion sensilla (cs), asymmetric sensilla (as) and those outside the tuft setuled sensilla (ss), hooded sensilla (hs), plumose (ps), and simple sensilla (ms). The aesthetascs however are the only sensilla that house exclusively chemoreceptors (the others also contain mechanoreceptors). The aesthetascs contain olfactory receptor neurons that mediate responses to intraspecific signals and cues. Reproduced from Steullet et al. (2001) with permission from The Journal of Experimental Biology...

In total, M. xanthus appears to have 9 chemotaxis operons and 19 chemoreceptors (D. Zusman, personal communication). The biological role of the majority of all these systems in the myxobacteria remains to be elucidated. 

In his classic, "The Origin of Terrestrial Vertebrates," Schmalhausen (1968) devotes some attention to modifications of the nasal apparatus in early tetrapods, but offers no discussion of its biological role. "The Colonisation of Land," (Little, 1983) deals with all terrestrial animals, but scarcely mentions the evolution of chemoreceptor mechanisms. 

Holgert H, Hertzberg T, Dagerlind A, Hokfelt T, Lagercrantz H. Neurochemical and molecular biological aspects on the resetting of the arterial chemoreceptors in the newborn rat. Adv Exp Med Biol 1993 337 165-170. 

McDonald DM. Peripheral chemoreceptors. Structure-function relationships of the carotid body. In Hombein TF, ed. Regulation of Breathing. Vol. 17. Lung Biology in Health and Disease. New York Dekker, 1981 105-319. 

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