Presynaptic modulation of early olfactory processing in Drosophila

Most animals are endowed with an olfactory system that is essential for finding foods, avoiding predators, and locating mating partners. The olfactory system must encode the identity and intensity of behaviorally relevant stimuli in a dynamic environmental landscape. How is olfactory information represented? How is a large dynamic range of odor concentrations represented in the olfactory system? How is this representation modulated to meet the demands of different internal physiological states? Recent studies have found that sensory terminals are important targets for neuromodulation. The emerging evidence suggests that presynaptic inhibition scales with sensory input and thus provides a mechanism to increase dynamic range of odor representation. In addition, presynaptic facilitation could be a mechanism to alter behavioral responses in hungry animals. This review will focus on the GABA(B) (gamma-aminobutyric acid) receptor-mediated presynaptic inhibition, and neuropeptide-mediated presynaptic modulation in Drosophila.