Development of odorant biosensors based on insect olfactory system

Abstract

In recent years, there has been a great deal of research on olfaction in organisms at the molecular level, and a database of responses to various odorants has been compiled. Insects, in particular, have an excellent ability to detect odorants, and their olfactory mechanisms have been remarkably elucidated based on genetic engineering methods. Therefore, we are focusing on the olfactory system of insects and investigating the use of insect olfactory receptors and organisms for the application of odorant sensors. In this article, we describe the use of the insect olfactory receptor expression system in heterologous cells and the production of transgenic silkmoths for development of odorant biosensors.