The olfactory pathway in the peracarid crustacean Parhyale hawaiensis (Malacostraca): new insights into the evolution of olfactory processing in Pancrustacea

Our current understanding of the functional morphology of olfactory systems in arthropods largely relies on information obtained in hexapods. Existing analyses of the olfactory pathway in crustacean representatives have suggested that these animals share several corresponding anatomical elements wit...

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Main Authors: Katja Kümmerlen, Rabea Schlüter, Steffen Harzsch
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: The Royal Society 2025-05-01
Series:Open Biology
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Online Access:https://royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/10.1098/rsob.240397
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author Katja Kümmerlen
Rabea Schlüter
Steffen Harzsch
author_facet Katja Kümmerlen
Rabea Schlüter
Steffen Harzsch
author_sort Katja Kümmerlen
collection DOAJ
description Our current understanding of the functional morphology of olfactory systems in arthropods largely relies on information obtained in hexapods. Existing analyses of the olfactory pathway in crustacean representatives have suggested that these animals share several corresponding anatomical elements with hexapod olfactory systems but that the latter likely feature a different olfactory wiring logic from receptor to olfactory glomerulus. This study sets out to further explore the diversity of arthropod olfactory systems by presenting a detailed morphological analysis of the peripheral and central olfactory pathways in an emerging model system, the peracarid crustacean Parhyale hawaiensis (Malacostraca). These animals feature all neuronal elements that characterize malacostracan crustacean’s olfactory systems, and the simplicity of this animal’s olfactory system provided the unique opportunity to quantify the numbers of olfactory sensilla and associated sensory neurons, olfactory interneurons and olfactory glomeruli. These data showed that the number of those neuronal elements is highly variable across individuals, contrasting with more stable numbers of neuronal elements in hexapod olfactory systems that typically are characterized by olfactory glomeruli with individual identities and constant numbers. We discuss the possible steps needed for an evolutionary transformation of a malacostracan crustacean type of olfactory system into a hexapod type.
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spelling doaj-art-a5e2c1c3f8a3487bbc048dac86bdf6212025-08-20T02:06:48ZengThe Royal SocietyOpen Biology2046-24412025-05-0115510.1098/rsob.240397The olfactory pathway in the peracarid crustacean Parhyale hawaiensis (Malacostraca): new insights into the evolution of olfactory processing in PancrustaceaKatja Kümmerlen0Rabea Schlüter1Steffen Harzsch2Zoological Institute and Museum, University of Greifswald , Greifswald, Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, GermanyImaging Center of the Department of Biology, University of Greifswald , Greifswald, Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, GermanyZoological Institute and Museum, University of Greifswald , Greifswald, Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, GermanyOur current understanding of the functional morphology of olfactory systems in arthropods largely relies on information obtained in hexapods. Existing analyses of the olfactory pathway in crustacean representatives have suggested that these animals share several corresponding anatomical elements with hexapod olfactory systems but that the latter likely feature a different olfactory wiring logic from receptor to olfactory glomerulus. This study sets out to further explore the diversity of arthropod olfactory systems by presenting a detailed morphological analysis of the peripheral and central olfactory pathways in an emerging model system, the peracarid crustacean Parhyale hawaiensis (Malacostraca). These animals feature all neuronal elements that characterize malacostracan crustacean’s olfactory systems, and the simplicity of this animal’s olfactory system provided the unique opportunity to quantify the numbers of olfactory sensilla and associated sensory neurons, olfactory interneurons and olfactory glomeruli. These data showed that the number of those neuronal elements is highly variable across individuals, contrasting with more stable numbers of neuronal elements in hexapod olfactory systems that typically are characterized by olfactory glomeruli with individual identities and constant numbers. We discuss the possible steps needed for an evolutionary transformation of a malacostracan crustacean type of olfactory system into a hexapod type.https://royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/10.1098/rsob.240397Peracaridachemical sensesaesthetascsolfactory receptor neuronsdistributed olfactory codingevolution
spellingShingle Katja Kümmerlen
Rabea Schlüter
Steffen Harzsch
The olfactory pathway in the peracarid crustacean Parhyale hawaiensis (Malacostraca): new insights into the evolution of olfactory processing in Pancrustacea
Open Biology
Peracarida
chemical senses
aesthetascs
olfactory receptor neurons
distributed olfactory coding
evolution
title The olfactory pathway in the peracarid crustacean Parhyale hawaiensis (Malacostraca): new insights into the evolution of olfactory processing in Pancrustacea
title_full The olfactory pathway in the peracarid crustacean Parhyale hawaiensis (Malacostraca): new insights into the evolution of olfactory processing in Pancrustacea
title_fullStr The olfactory pathway in the peracarid crustacean Parhyale hawaiensis (Malacostraca): new insights into the evolution of olfactory processing in Pancrustacea
title_full_unstemmed The olfactory pathway in the peracarid crustacean Parhyale hawaiensis (Malacostraca): new insights into the evolution of olfactory processing in Pancrustacea
title_short The olfactory pathway in the peracarid crustacean Parhyale hawaiensis (Malacostraca): new insights into the evolution of olfactory processing in Pancrustacea
title_sort olfactory pathway in the peracarid crustacean parhyale hawaiensis malacostraca new insights into the evolution of olfactory processing in pancrustacea
topic Peracarida
chemical senses
aesthetascs
olfactory receptor neurons
distributed olfactory coding
evolution
url https://royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/10.1098/rsob.240397
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