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closeSpeciation: nutrient chemicals calibrate; pheromones standardize and control
Posted by jvkohl on 17 Mar 2012 at 01:45 GMT
Behavior of all species from microbes to man is mediated by ligand-receptor binding. Is anything besides olfactory/pheromonal input directly linked to receptor-mediated behavioral development in any species? In microbes, for example, we have nutrient chemicals metabolized to pheromones. In mammals, nutrient chemicals are responsible for maintenance of the neuroendocrine and neuroimmune systems during sexual maturation and sexual reproduction that involves mammalian pheromones in mate choice for genetic diversity -- as in microbes. The logic of the molecular biology does not seem too hard to follow, and then someone almost invariably suggests that humans are primarily visual creatures. Is there a model for that?
RE: Speciation: nutrient chemicals calibrate; pheromones standardize and control
jvkohl replied to jvkohl on 17 Mar 2012 at 14:39 GMT
In a related discussion at the following URL:
http://medicalxpress.com/...
Tausch commented:
And their biggest surprise is yet to come...
...that most transcription factors perform two tasks simultaneously: they can activate odorant receptors' expression; while at the same time turning off others in the same cell...
and... have a source for this performance during the larvae phase!
Be patient. Their work will lead them inescapably to this discovery and surprise as well.
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I will add:
Had this discussant not stated it so clearly, I might have missed the connection to the role of dopamine compared to serotonin in the honeybee-to-human model of food acquisition and instrumental conditioning that accompanies classically conditioned hormone responses to olfactory/pheromonal input.
The development of behavior must be directly linked to receptor-mediated events across species. Researcher who ignore the basic principles of biology and levels of biological organization that are required to link cause and effect (i.e., the evolved gene, cell, tissue, organ, organ system pathway) will continue to miss out on the explanatory power that comes from the first requirement in any scientific pursuit: getting the model right.