Evidence map›Paper›PMID 38070504›Full record

ArticleCurrent biology : CB2023

Transcriptional and post-transcriptional control of odorant receptor choice in ants.

Anindita Brahma, Dominic D Frank, P Daniel H Pastor, Patrick K Piekarski, Wei Wang, Ji-Dung Luo, Thomas S Carroll, Daniel J C Kronauer

Open access · hybridAbstract read
In one paragraph

Article in Current biology : CB, 2023. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 16 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
16citing papers in PubMed
4.3field-weighted citation impact, top 5% of its field
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

16 citing papers in PubMed, 30 citations in OpenAlex.

  1. Article
  2. Article
  3. Convergent motifs of early olfactory processing are recapitulated by layer-wise efficient coding.Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America · 2026
    Article
  4. Article
  5. Article
  6. Article
  7. Article
  8. A single-nucleus transcriptomic atlas of the adultbioRxiv : the preprint server for biology · 2025
    Article
  9. Article
  10. Article
  11. Article
  12. Article
  13. Article
  14. An integrated anatomical, functional and evolutionary view of thebioRxiv : the preprint server for biology · 2025
    Article
  15. From Egg to Adult: A Developmental Table of the Ant Monomorium pharaonis.Journal of experimental zoology. Part B, Molecular and developmental evolution · 2024
    Article
  16. Article
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

8 authors at 2 institutions in 1 country.

Anindita BrahmaLaboratory of Social Evolution and Behavior, The Rockefeller University, New York, NY 10065, USA. Electronic address: abrahma02@rockefeller.edu.
Dominic D FrankLaboratory of Social Evolution and Behavior, The Rockefeller University, New York, NY 10065, USA.
P Daniel H PastorLaboratory of Social Evolution and Behavior, The Rockefeller University, New York, NY 10065, USA.
Patrick K PiekarskiLaboratory of Social Evolution and Behavior, The Rockefeller University, New York, NY 10065, USA.
Wei WangBioinformatics Resource Center, The Rockefeller University, New York, NY 10065, USA.
Ji-Dung LuoBioinformatics Resource Center, The Rockefeller University, New York, NY 10065, USA.
Thomas S CarrollBioinformatics Resource Center, The Rockefeller University, New York, NY 10065, USA.
Daniel J C KronauerLaboratory of Social Evolution and Behavior, The Rockefeller University, New York, NY 10065, USA; Howard Hughes Medical Institute, New York, NY 10065, USA. Electronic address: dkronauer@rockefeller.edu.
Rockefeller University · USHoward Hughes Medical Institute · US

Funding

Representation and Modulation of Social Information in the Ant Chemosensory SystemR01NS123899 · NINDS · ROCKEFELLER UNIVERSITY · PI KRONAUER, DANIEL · 2021 to 2025
$2.3M
NINDS NIH HHS R01 NS123899
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

Insects and mammals have independently evolved odorant receptor genes that are arranged in large genomic tandem arrays. In mammals, each olfactory sensory neuron chooses to express a single receptor in a stochastic process that includes substantial chromatin rearrangements. Here, we show that ants, which have the largest odorant receptor repertoires among insects, employ a different mechanism to regulate gene expression from tandem arrays. Using single-nucleus RNA sequencing, we found that ant olfactory sensory neurons choose different transcription start sites along an array but then produce mRNA from many downstream genes. This can result in transcripts from dozens of receptors being present in a single nucleus. Such rampant receptor co-expression at first seems difficult to reconcile with the narrow tuning of the ant olfactory system. However, RNA fluorescence in situ hybridization showed that only mRNA from the most upstream transcribed odorant receptor seems to reach the cytoplasm where it can be translated into protein, whereas mRNA from downstream receptors gets sequestered in the nucleus. This implies that, despite the extensive co-expression of odorant receptor genes, each olfactory sensory neuron ultimately only produces one or very few functional receptors. Evolution has thus found different molecular solutions in insects and mammals to the convergent challenge of selecting small subsets of receptors from large odorant receptor repertoires.

Indexed as

AntsOlfactory Receptor NeuronsReceptors, OdorantAnimalsIn Situ Hybridization, FluorescenceMammalsRNA, MessengerReceptors, OdorantRNA, Messengerchemosensationclonal raider antFormicidaegene expressiongene regulationgenomic tandem arrayolfactionsocial insects

Identifiers

PMID38070504
PMCPMC11025690
OpenAlexW4389489686

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
LicenceTDM
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.