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John Carlson

 

Molecular Cell Biology, Genetics & Development; Neuroscience

Eugene Higgins Professor of Molecular, Cellular & Developmental Biology

Education

A.B. Harvard University 1977
Ph.D. Stanford University Medical School 1982

Research Interests

Olfaction offers a wealth of biological problems at several levels, including signaling, cellular organization, development, and behavior. Drosophila has a highly sophisticated olfactory system, which we study with genetic, molecular, physiological, and behavioral approaches. We used bioinformatics to discover a family of 60 odor receptor genes. We systematically identified the ligand specificities of the odor receptors by expressing each in an in vivo expression system. The same approach showed that an odor receptor of the Anopheles mosquito, which transmits malaria, responds to a component of human sweat. A major problem is how the responses of the odor receptor repertoire are translated into a behavioral response. We have also identified a family of 60 genes that encode taste receptors. Functional testing showed that one is required for response to the sugar trehalose. We are integrating a study of taste receptors and neurons to define the molecular and cellular basis of taste.

Links

• Carlson Homepage

Recent Publications

• Ray, A., Van der Goes van Naters, W., Shiraiwa, T., and Carlson, J. (2007). Mechanisms of odor receptor gene choice in Drosophila. Neuron 53:353-369.
• Hallem, E. and Carlson, J.R. (2006). Odor coding by a receptor repertoire. Cell 125:143-160.

Contact

E-mail
john.carlson@yale.edu