Summary
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1.
The specificity of the olfactory receptor site forl-serine in coho salmon,Oncorhynchus kisutch, was evaluated by using biochemical receptor and behavioral assays of olfaction.
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2.
A competitive binding experiment showed that the ability of amino acids to compete for thel-serine binding site depended on molecular size and charge.l-threonine,l-serine, andl-alanine were best able to compete withl-serine suggesting that the threonine-serine-alanine (TSA) odor binding site exists in coho salmon.
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3.
The behavioral response to singly-presented amino acids was evaluated by using a two-choice Y-trough. Threonine, serine, alanine, and histidine were behaviorally avoided at 10−7 M. All other amino acids tested were neither aversive nor attractive.
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4.
A cross-adaptation experiment indicated that the detection and behavioral avoidance of serine was inhibited by the adapting amino acids serine, alanine, or glycine but not by threonine, aspartic acid, or histidine.
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5.
A classical conditioning experiment showed that single fish were unable to discriminate between serine and alanine but were able to discriminate serine or alanine from a qualitatively different odor such as histidine.
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6.
These results, taken together, indicate thatl-serine andl-alanine were functionally identical odors to coho salmon. We propose that a functional olfactory receptor site for serine and alanine (site SA) exists in coho salmon.
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Cooperators are Oregon State University, Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife, and US Fish and Wildlife Service
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Rehnberg, B.G., Schreck, C.B. The olfactoryL-serine receptor in coho salmon: biochemical specificity and behavioral response. J. Comp. Physiol. 159, 61–67 (1986). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00612496
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00612496