Smell perception in mammals involves the interactions of airborne odorant molecules from the environment with receptor proteins on the olfactory neurons in the nasal cavity. The binding of odorant molecules to the receptor proteins triggers action potentials in the olfactory neurons and results in transmission of information to the brain. Mammalian genomes typically have approximately 1,000 functional odorant-receptor genes, each encoding a unique odorant receptor.
(a) Describe how the signal is transmitted across the synapse from an activated olfactory sensory neuron to the interneuron that transmits the information to the brain.
(b) Explain how the expression of a limited number of odorant receptor genes can lead to the perception of thousands of odors. Use the evidence about the number of odorant receptor genes to support your answer.