Abstract
An olfactory mutant of Drosophila melanogaster has been isolated. In 97 chemicals examined, the mutant is strongly attracted by 18 chemicals repllent to parent strain: These are salicylaldehyde, morin, maltol, kojic acid, methyl acetoacetate, 2, 4-pentanedione, benzoylacetone, 2, 3-butanedione, six carboxylic acids and four aliphatic monoketones. These chemicals except four monoketones contain a molecular feature as the ‘bifunctional unit’ consisting of a proton-acceptor (A) and a proton-donor (D) in gas phase, showing an average A-D distance of about 3Å.
