Browse
Submit Data
Databases
API
Help

Dataset Information

0 Views

0 Connections

0 Citations

0 Reanalyses

0 Downloads

Omics score: 0

The molecular basis for attractive salt-taste coding in Drosophila.

ABSTRACT: Below a certain level, table salt (NaCl) is beneficial for animals, whereas excessive salt is harmful. However, it remains unclear how low- and high-salt taste perceptions are differentially encoded. We identified a salt-taste coding mechanism in Drosophila melanogaster. Flies use distinct types of gustatory receptor neurons (GRNs) to respond to different concentrations of salt. We demonstrated that a member of the newly discovered ionotropic glutamate receptor (IR) family, IR76b, functioned in the detection of low salt and was a Na(+) channel. The loss of IR76b selectively impaired the attractive pathway, leaving salt-aversive GRNs unaffected. Consequently, low salt became aversive. Our work demonstrated that the opposing behavioral responses to low and high salt were determined largely by an elegant bimodal switch system operating in GRNs.

SUBMITTER: Zhang YV

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4091975 | biostudies-literature | 2013 Jun

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

ACCESS DATA

Json Xml

Publications

The molecular basis for attractive salt-taste coding in Drosophila.

Zhang Yali V YV Ni Jinfei J Montell Craig C

Science (New York, N.Y.) 20130601 6138

Below a certain level, table salt (NaCl) is beneficial for animals, whereas excessive salt is harmful. However, it remains unclear how low- and high-salt taste perceptions are differentially encoded. We identified a salt-taste coding mechanism in Drosophila melanogaster. Flies use distinct types of gustatory receptor neurons (GRNs) to respond to different concentrations of salt. We demonstrated that a member of the newly discovered ionotropic glutamate receptor (IR) family, IR76b, functioned in ...[more]

PMID: 23766326

Similar Datasets

The molecular basis for water taste in Drosophila.

Project description:The detection of water and the regulation of water intake are essential for animals to maintain proper osmotic homeostasis. Drosophila and other insects have gustatory sensory neurons that mediate the recognition of external water sources, but little is known about the underlying molecular mechanism for water taste detection. Here we identify a member of the degenerin/epithelial sodium channel family, PPK28, as an osmosensitive ion channel that mediates the cellular and behavioural response to water. We use molecular, cellular, calcium imaging and electrophysiological approaches to show that ppk28 is expressed in water-sensing neurons, and that loss of ppk28 abolishes water sensitivity. Moreover, ectopic expression of ppk28 confers water sensitivity to bitter-sensing gustatory neurons in the fly and sensitivity to hypo-osmotic solutions when expressed in heterologous cells. These studies link an osmosensitive ion channel to water taste detection and drinking behaviour, providing the framework for examining the molecular basis for water detection in other animals.

| S-EPMC2865571 | biostudies-literature

Molecular basis of fatty acid taste in Drosophila.

Project description:Behavioral studies have established that Drosophila appetitive taste responses towards fatty acids are mediated by sweet sensing Gustatory Receptor Neurons (GRNs). Here we show that sweet GRN activation requires the function of the Ionotropic Receptor genes IR25a, IR76b and IR56d. The former two IR genes are expressed in several neurons per sensillum, while IR56d expression is restricted to sweet GRNs. Importantly, loss of appetitive behavioral responses to fatty acids in IR25a and IR76b mutant flies can be completely rescued by expression of respective transgenes in sweet GRNs. Interestingly, appetitive behavioral responses of wild type flies to hexanoic acid reach a plateau at ~1%, but decrease with higher concentration, a property mediated through IR25a/IR76b independent activation of bitter GRNs. With our previous report on sour taste, our studies suggest that IR-based receptors mediate different taste qualities through cell-type specific IR subunits.

| S-EPMC5747521 | biostudies-literature

The molecular and cellular basis of bitter taste in Drosophila.

Project description:The extent of diversity among bitter-sensing neurons is a fundamental issue in the field of taste. Data are limited and conflicting as to whether bitter neurons are broadly tuned and uniform, resulting in indiscriminate avoidance of bitter stimuli, or diverse, allowing a more discerning evaluation of food sources. We provide a systematic analysis of how bitter taste is encoded by the major taste organ of the Drosophila head, the labellum. Each of 16 bitter compounds is tested physiologically against all 31 taste hairs, revealing responses that are diverse in magnitude and dynamics. Four functional classes of bitter neurons are defined. Four corresponding classes are defined through expression analysis of all 68 gustatory taste receptors. A receptor-to-neuron-to-tastant map is constructed. Misexpression of one receptor confers bitter responses as predicted by the map. These results reveal a degree of complexity that greatly expands the capacity of the system to encode bitter taste.

| S-EPMC3033050 | biostudies-literature

Molecular and cellular basis of acid taste sensation in Drosophila.

Project description:Acid taste, evoked mainly by protons (H+), is a core taste modality for many organisms. The hedonic valence of acid taste is bidirectional: animals prefer slightly but avoid highly acidic foods. However, how animals discriminate low from high acidity remains poorly understood. To explore the taste perception of acid, we use the fruit fly as a model organism. We find that flies employ two competing taste sensory pathways to detect low and high acidity, and the relative degree of activation of each determines either attractive or aversive responses. Moreover, we establish one member of the fly Otopetrin family, Otopetrin-like a (OtopLa), as a proton channel dedicated to the gustatory detection of acid. OtopLa defines a unique subset of gustatory receptor neurons and is selectively required for attractive rather than aversive taste responses. Loss of otopla causes flies to reject normally attractive low-acid foods. Therefore, the identification of OtopLa as a low-acid sensor firmly supports our competition model of acid taste sensation. Altogether, we have discovered a binary acid-sensing mechanism that may be evolutionarily conserved between insects and mammals.

| S-EPMC8211824 | biostudies-literature

A complex peripheral code for salt taste in Drosophila.

Project description:Each taste modality is generally encoded by a single, molecularly defined, population of sensory cells. However, salt stimulates multiple taste pathways in mammals and insects, suggesting a more complex code for salt taste. Here, we examine salt coding in Drosophila. After creating a comprehensive molecular map comprised of five discrete sensory neuron classes across the fly labellum, we find that four are activated by salt: two exhibiting characteristics of 'low salt' cells, and two 'high salt' classes. Behaviorally, low salt attraction depends primarily on 'sweet' neurons, with additional input from neurons expressing the ionotropic receptor IR94e. High salt avoidance is mediated by 'bitter' neurons and a population of glutamatergic neurons expressing Ppk23. Interestingly, the impact of these glutamatergic neurons depends on prior salt consumption. These results support a complex model for salt coding in flies that combinatorially integrates inputs from across cell types to afford robust and flexible salt behaviors.

| S-EPMC6181562 | biostudies-literature

Combinatorial Pharyngeal Taste Coding for Feeding Avoidance in Adult Drosophila.

Project description:Taste drives appropriate food preference and intake. In Drosophila, taste neurons are housed in both external and internal organs, but the latter have been relatively underexplored. Here, we report that Poxn mutants with a minimal taste system of pharyngeal neurons can avoid many aversive tastants, including bitter compounds, acid, and salt, suggesting that pharyngeal taste is sufficient for rejecting intake of aversive compounds. Optogenetic activation of selected pharyngeal bitter neurons during feeding events elicits changes in feeding parameters that can suppress intake. Functional dissection experiments indicate that multiple classes of pharyngeal neurons are involved in achieving behavioral avoidance, by virtue of being inhibited or activated by aversive tastants. Tracing second-order pharyngeal circuits reveals two main relay centers for processing pharyngeal taste inputs. Together, our results suggest that the pharynx can control the ingestion of harmful compounds by integrating taste input from different classes of pharyngeal neurons.

| S-EPMC6860367 | biostudies-literature

Molecular basis and homeostatic regulation of Zinc taste.

Project description: Not available

| S-EPMC9095774 | biostudies-literature

Taste coding of heavy metal ion-induced avoidance in <i>Drosophila</i>.

Project description:Increasing pollution of heavy metals poses great risks to animals globally. Their survival likely relies on an ability to detect and avoid harmful heavy metal ions (HMIs). Currently, little is known about the neural mechanisms of HMI detection. Here, we show that Drosophila and related species of Drosophilidae actively avoid toxic HMIs at micromolar concentrations. The high sensitivity to HMIs is biologically relevant. Particularly, their sensitivity to cadmium is as high as that to the most bitter substance, denatonium. Detection of HMIs in food requires Gr66a + gustatory neurons but is independent of bitter-taste receptors. In these neurons, the ionotropic receptors IR76b, IR25a, and IR7a are required for the perception of heavy metals. Furthermore, IR47a mediates the activation of a distinct group of non-Gr66a + gustatory neurons elicited by HMIs. Together, our findings reveal a surprising taste quality represented by noxious metal ions.

| S-EPMC10148117 | biostudies-literature

Molecular Logic and Evolution of Bitter Taste in Drosophila.

Project description:Taste systems detect a vast diversity of toxins, which are perceived as bitter. When a species adapts to a new environment, its taste system must adapt to detect new death threats. We deleted each of six commonly expressed bitter gustatory receptors (Grs) from Drosophila melanogaster. Systematic analysis revealed that requirements for these Grs differed for the same tastant in different neurons and for different tastants in the same neuron. Responses to some tastants in some neurons required four Grs, including Gr39a. Deletions also produced increased or novel responses, supporting a model of Gr-Gr inhibitory interactions. Coexpression of four Grs conferred several bitter responses to a sugar neuron. We then examined bitter coding in three other Drosophila species. We found major evolutionary shifts. One shift depended on the concerted activity of seven Grs. This work shows how the complex logic of bitter coding provides the capacity to detect innumerable hazards and the flexibility to adapt to new ones.

| S-EPMC6946858 | biostudies-literature

Evolutionary shifts in taste coding in the fruit pest <i>Drosophila suzukii</i>.

Project description:Although most Drosophila species lay eggs in overripe fruit, the agricultural pest Drosophila suzukii lays eggs in ripe fruit. We found that changes in bitter taste perception have accompanied this adaptation. We show that bitter-sensing mutants of Drosophila melanogaster undergo a shift in egg laying preference toward ripe fruit. D. suzukii has lost 20% of the bitter-sensing sensilla from the labellum, the major taste organ of the head. Physiological responses to various bitter compounds are lost. Responses to strawberry purées are lost from two classes of taste sensilla. Egg laying is not deterred by bitter compounds that deter other species. Profiling of labellar transcriptomes reveals reduced expression of several bitter Gr genes (gustatory receptors). These findings support a model in which bitter compounds in early ripening stages deter egg laying in most Drosophila species, but a loss of bitter response contributes to the adaptation of D. suzukii to ripe fruit.

| S-EPMC7899650 | biostudies-literature

OmicsDI is part of the ELIXIR infrastructure

OmicsDI is an Elixir interoperability service. Learn more ›

Tweets

OmicsDI Databases

PRIDE
PeptideAtlas
MassIVE
JPOST Repository
Physiome Model Repository

EGA
EVA
ENA
LINCS
PAXDB
Cell Collective

MetaboLights
Metabolomics Workbench
MetabolomeExpress
GNPS
BioModels
FAIRDOMHub

ArrayExpress
dbGaP
ExpressionAtlas
GEO
NODE

Information

Databases
Help
API
Contact us
Code on GitHub
Terms of use
Submit Data