Identification of Chemosensory Receptor Genes from Vertebrate Genomes

Chemical senses are essential for the survival of animals. In vertebrates, mainly three different types of receptors, olfactory receptors (ORs), vomeronasal receptors type 1 (V1Rs), and vomeronasal receptors type 2 (V2Rs), are responsible for the detection of chemicals in the environment. Mouse or rat genomes contain >1,000 OR genes, forming the largest multigene family in vertebrates, and have >100 V1R and V2R genes as well. Recent advancement in genome sequencing enabled us to computationally identify nearly complete repertories of OR, V1R, and V2R genes from various organisms, revealing that the numbers of these genes are highly variable among different organisms depending on each species’ living environment. Here I would explain bioinformatic methods to identify the entire repertoires of OR, V1R, and V2R genes from vertebrate genome sequences.