This unexpected discovery is reported in an article
published in the online Early Edition of the Proceedings of the National
Academy of Sciences for the week of Feb. 3 by a team of Vanderbilt University
biologists.
The scientists report that they have detected a suite of
specialized chemical sensors called odorant receptors (ORs) in mosquito sperm.
These are the same as the sensors that play a central role in the mosquito’s
olfactory system, which is found on the insect’s antennae.The researchers found
that the odorant receptors in the sperm are expressed along their tails where
they drive the rapid increase in the movement (beating) of the sperm tails.