Topic: Orco

Olfactory sensory neurons (OSNs) detect odours at a wide range of intensities. In insects, volatile compounds are perceived by odorant receptors (ORs), which are made up of an odour-specific protein (OrX) and the ubiquitous odorant co-receptor Orco. In principle, ORs tune the sensitivity of odour detection, with some OSNs exhibiting exceptionally high sensitivity. To test whether additional mechanisms underlie odour-specific neuronal processing, we investigated synapses between OSNs and projection neurons in the antennal lobe, the first relay station of the olfactory pathway. Here, we studied