Presentation Details
| Olfactory detection thresholds of mice to commonly used odorants Vaishnavi Chinthakunta, Veronica Kelada, Ellie Williams, Adam Dewan. Florida State University, Tallahassee, FL, USA |
Abstract
Perceptual measures of olfactory sensitivity reflect the responses derived from the complete repertoire of olfactory receptors and therefore provide a mechanism to compare the sensitivity of different species, gauge appropriate stimulus concentrations for functional experiments, and develop hypotheses regarding the evolutionary pressures that have shaped the olfactory receptor gene repertoire. In this study, we assayed the ability of C57Bl/6J mice to detect six odorants: sec-butyl acetate, isobutanol, benzaldehyde, 2-butanone, 2-pentanone, and 2-hexanone using our robust psychophysical approach combined with a photoionization detector method to validate vapor-phase concentration. We found that mice were most sensitive to sec-butyl acetate (15.5 ppb) and benzaldehyde (16.6 ppb) and least sensitive to the three ketones (2-butanone: 161.2 ppb, 2-pentanone: 112.9 ppb, and 2-hexanone: 122.3 ppb). Integrating these new findings with our previously published data, we find that murine olfactory thresholds (n = 29 odorants) range across four orders of magnitude (0.1 – 250 ppb). In general, mice exhibited the greatest sensitivity towards aliphatic alcohols and the least sensitivity towards ketones. We hypothesize that enhanced sensitivity towards alcohols could potentially assist in the identification of spoiled grains, which is a major food source for both wild and laboratory mice. Beyond aiding researchers in using appropriate stimulus concentrations for functional studies in mice, these sensitivity measures can shed light onto the evolutionary pressures that have shaped their olfactory system.
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No part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means, including photocopying, recording, or other electronic or mechanical methods, without the prior written permission of the author.
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