Species-Specific Tuning of Chemotactile Receptors in Octopuses

Authors:

Sonia Murthy, Pablo Villar del Rio, Nicholas Bellono

Date Created:

2025-01-01

Course Title:

Professor:

Not specified

About Paper:

Chemotactilereceptors(CRs)inoctopusesmediatedirectchemical exposed to ecologically relevant chemicals, including steroids, exploration through their arms, allowing them to detect and terpenes,andbittermolecules, andresponseswerequantifiedusing discriminate among environmental cues via physical contact. calcium imaging. Preliminary results show that many CRs are These receptors play critical roles in species-specific behaviors expressed selectively across tissues, with a subset enriched in the such as foraging, predator avoidance, and mating, and may hectocotylus (a specialized male mating arm), suggesting roles contribute to ecological adaptation. However, little is known about in reproduction or signaling. Functional assays revealed species- howCRsevolveinresponsetoecologicalandbehavioralpressures, specific ligand tuning: certain steroids selectively activate CRT1 or how molecular differences drive sensory specialization between in O. bimaculoides but not A. aculeatus, while bitter molecules species. Octopuses provide a powerful comparative system to andterpenesactivateCRT1inboth. Sequencealignmentidentified investigate the sensory basis of speciation due to their diverse key amino acid substitutions near the ligand-binding domain that ecological niches and behavioral variation. This study examines may underlie functional differences between orthologs. These chemotactile receptor for terpenes 1 (CRT1), a conserved CR, results suggest that molecular differences may underlie species- in two ecologically distinct octopus species: Abdopus aculeatus specific sensory specialization. Environmental factors like habitat, and Octopus bimaculoides. To explore the evolutionary and foraging strategy, and reproductive signaling likely shape receptor functional diversification of CRT1, we performed comparative evolution. This work highlights octopuses as a model for linking genomic and transcriptomic analyses to assess sequence variation sensoryevolutiontoecologicaldivergenceandspeciation, offering and tissue-specific CR expression. In parallel, we expressed insight into how perception evolves in non-vertebrates. CRT1 orthologs from each species in human embryonic kidney (HEK) cells to evaluate receptor function. Transfected cells were

Abstract:

Chemotactilereceptors(CRs)inoctopusesmediatedirectchemical exposed to ecologically relevant chemicals, including steroids, exploration through their arms, allowing them to detect and terpenes,andbittermolecules, andresponseswerequantifiedusing discriminate among environmental cues via physical contact. calcium imaging. Preliminary results show that many CRs are These receptors play critical roles in species-specific behaviors expressed selectively across tissues, with a subset enriched in the such as foraging, predator avoidance, and mating, and may hectocotylus (a specialized male mating arm), suggesting roles contribute to ecological adaptation. However, little is known about in reproduction or signaling. Functional assays revealed species- howCRsevolveinresponsetoecologicalandbehavioralpressures, specific ligand tuning: certain steroids selectively activate CRT1 or how molecular differences drive sensory specialization between in O. bimaculoides but not A. aculeatus, while bitter molecules species. Octopuses provide a powerful comparative system to andterpenesactivateCRT1inboth. Sequencealignmentidentified investigate the sensory basis of speciation due to their diverse key amino acid substitutions near the ligand-binding domain that ecological niches and behavioral variation. This study examines may underlie functional differences between orthologs. These chemotactile receptor for terpenes 1 (CRT1), a conserved CR, results suggest that molecular differences may underlie species- in two ecologically distinct octopus species: Abdopus aculeatus specific sensory specialization. Environmental factors like habitat, and Octopus bimaculoides. To explore the evolutionary and foraging strategy, and reproductive signaling likely shape receptor functional diversification of CRT1, we performed comparative evolution. This work highlights octopuses as a model for linking genomic and transcriptomic analyses to assess sequence variation sensoryevolutiontoecologicaldivergenceandspeciation, offering and tissue-specific CR expression. In parallel, we expressed insight into how perception evolves in non-vertebrates. CRT1 orthologs from each species in human embryonic kidney (HEK) cells to evaluate receptor function. Transfected cells were

Source:

Harvard / Harvard College | Eliot House | Chemistry | 2026 / 2025

Topics:

specy, receptor, crt1, octopuse, functional, molecular, difference, sensory, tuning, chemotactile, crs, ecologically

Co-authors:

@soniamurthy339 , @pablovillardelrio340 , @nicholasbellono341