Towards a common strategy for transducing olfactory information.

Olfactory receptor cells in phylogenetically diverse animals are strikingly similar, notwithstanding species-specific differences in organizational details. As we learn more about how olfactory receptor cells function, we see the first evidence that phylogenetic similarity may extend to the functional level. Conservation of form and function in phylogenetically diverse animals would suggest the presence of a fundamental strategy for detecting and discriminating odors. Emerging data on how olfactory receptor cells transduce odor information offers some insight into what this still unresolved strategy may be.