Olfaction is decisively important for the control of many insect behaviors. Orientation toward hosts, feeding, egg-laying, aggregation, and courtship and mating in many species of insects -- including vectors of parasitic and infectious diseases and agricultural pests -- are strongly influenced or controlled by these antennal senses. Very little is known, however, about the processes in the insect central nervous system (CNS) through which olfactory information influences behavior and which might be exploitable for improved strategies of insect management. This research has as an ultimate goal the understanding and exploitation of central processes in olfaction and other antennal senses, first in the experimentally favorable """"""""model"""""""" insect Manduca sexta and eventually in medically and economically important (but experimentally less favorable) species, which are key determinants of harmful or otherwise important insect behaviors. Present knowledge of the structure and physiology of sensilla and their receptor cells in the antennae and other sensory organs of insects provides a basis for a detailed neurophysiological and structural study of neural pathways subserving olfaction and other antennal senses in the insect CNS. In this project, we plan to continue our established research effort aimed at revealing neural mechanisms of information processing in the insect brain, through which biologically meaningful odors as well as mechanosensory, humidity, and temperature stimuli detected by the antennae generate """"""""higher-order"""""""" neural signals that ultimately trigger or sustain significant behaviors. Our studies aim to trace the projections and connections of specific types of central neurons in the antennal-sensory pathway; to characterize by means of intracellular recording the electrophysiological responses of neurons in the antennal lobes of the brain to defined and biologically meaningful antennal stimuli; to analyze the processes of central integration of sensory information and the underlying synaptic organization and mechanisms in the antennal lobes; to probe for neuromodulatory mechanisms in the central olfactory pathway; to explore further the usefulness of 2-deoxyglucose radiochemical activity-labeling to map patterns of neural activity in the antennal sensory pathways in the CNS; and to pursue further our collaborative efforts to characterize the sex-pheromone system of Manduca, to unravel ultrastructurally the details of synpatic """"""""wiring"""""""" in the olfactory glomeruli of the antennal lobes, and to characterize fully the responsiveness of individual receptor cells in antennal olfactory sensilla.

Agency
National Institute of Health (NIH)
Institute
National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID)
Type
Method to Extend Research in Time (MERIT) Award (R37)
Project #
5R37AI023253-06
Application #
3481235
Study Section
Tropical Medicine and Parasitology Study Section (TMP)
Project Start
1985-09-01
Project End
1991-08-31
Budget Start
1990-09-01
Budget End
1991-08-31
Support Year
6
Fiscal Year
1990
Total Cost
Indirect Cost
Name
University of Arizona
Department
Type
Organized Research Units
DUNS #
City
Tucson
State
AZ
Country
United States
Zip Code
85721
Heinbockel, Thomas; Shields, Vonnie D C; Reisenman, Carolina E (2013) Glomerular interactions in olfactory processing channels of the antennal lobes. J Comp Physiol A Neuroethol Sens Neural Behav Physiol 199:929-46
Heinbockel, T; Christensen, T A; Hildebrand, J G (2004) Representation of binary pheromone blends by glomerulus-specific olfactory projection neurons. J Comp Physiol A Neuroethol Sens Neural Behav Physiol 190:1023-37
Mercer, Alison R; Hildebrand, John G (2002) Developmental changes in the electrophysiological properties and response characteristics of Manduca antennal-lobe neurons. J Neurophysiol 87:2650-63
Mercer, Alison R; Hildebrand, John G (2002) Developmental changes in the density of ionic currents in antennal-lobe neurons of the sphinx moth, Manduca sexta. J Neurophysiol 87:2664-75
Kloppenburg, P; Heinbockel, T (2000) 5-Hydroxy-tryptamine modulates pheromone-evoked local field potentials in the macroglomerular complex of the sphinx moth Manduca sexta. J Exp Biol 203:1701-9
Lehman, H K; Murgiuc, C M; Hildebrand, J G (2000) Characterization and developmental regulation of tyramine-beta-hydroxylase in the CNS of the moth, Manduca sexta. Insect Biochem Mol Biol 30:377-86
Kloppenburg, P; Ferns, D; Mercer, A R (1999) Serotonin enhances central olfactory neuron responses to female sex pheromone in the male sphinx moth manduca sexta. J Neurosci 19:8172-81
Kent, K S; Oland, L A; Hildebrand, J G (1999) Development of the labial pit organ glomerulus in the antennal lobe of the moth Manduca sexta: the role of afferent projections in the formation of identifiable olfactory glomeruli. J Neurobiol 40:28-44
Heinbockel, T; Christensen, T A; Hildebrand, J G (1999) Temporal tuning of odor responses in pheromone-responsive projection neurons in the brain of the sphinx moth Manduca sexta. J Comp Neurol 409:1-12
Sun, X (1999) Combining laser scanning confocal microscopy and electron microscopy. Methods Enzymol 307:135-52

Showing the most recent 10 out of 59 publications