Spring Break
Fruit flies use taste to get around
Issue date: 10/29/09
Recent research from the Department of Biological Chemistry and Neuroscience Center for Sensory Biology at the Hopkins School of Medicine has found that certain gustatory receptors (GRs) in fruit flies are essential for taste and preventing courtship between males.
Research in the gustatory system, the sensory system of taste, is especially applicable to humans because from an evolutionary standpoint, it allows us to know what food is safe or harmful, although nowadays this ability is taken for granted.
Gustatory receptors are commonly known as receptors of taste. In the fruit fly, although there are some GRs whose functions have been discovered, such as those that prevent the ingestion of caffeine, receptors that trigger avoidance of harmful, nonvolatile chemicals are relatively unknown.
A current Hopkins study reveals the nature of another gustatory receptor, Gr33a, which is expressed widely in gustatory receptor neurons (GRNs) that respond to aversive chemicals, such as bug repellents.
"Since many botanical compounds function as naturally occurring insect repellents and pesticides, the identification of Gr33a offers potential for devising mechanisms for reducing interactions between insect pests and plants," Craig Montell, a professor of Biological Chemistry at Hopkins and the senior researcher of the study, said.
His study shows that Gr33a may play a fundamental role in the avoidance in fruit flies. In tests of this hypothesis, flies with mutant versions of Gr33a were found to have difficulty avoiding chemicals ranging from quinine (an anti-malarial drug) to denatonium (the most bitter chemical compound known).
"We reported the identification of a receptor, Gr33a, which is expressed in all gustatory receptor neurons (GRNs) that respond to avoidance compounds," Montell said. "We generated a mutation in Gr33a and found that the mutant flies were unable to detect every repellent compound tested that is sensed through contact chemosensation."
Research in the gustatory system, the sensory system of taste, is especially applicable to humans because from an evolutionary standpoint, it allows us to know what food is safe or harmful, although nowadays this ability is taken for granted.
Gustatory receptors are commonly known as receptors of taste. In the fruit fly, although there are some GRs whose functions have been discovered, such as those that prevent the ingestion of caffeine, receptors that trigger avoidance of harmful, nonvolatile chemicals are relatively unknown.
A current Hopkins study reveals the nature of another gustatory receptor, Gr33a, which is expressed widely in gustatory receptor neurons (GRNs) that respond to aversive chemicals, such as bug repellents.
"Since many botanical compounds function as naturally occurring insect repellents and pesticides, the identification of Gr33a offers potential for devising mechanisms for reducing interactions between insect pests and plants," Craig Montell, a professor of Biological Chemistry at Hopkins and the senior researcher of the study, said.
His study shows that Gr33a may play a fundamental role in the avoidance in fruit flies. In tests of this hypothesis, flies with mutant versions of Gr33a were found to have difficulty avoiding chemicals ranging from quinine (an anti-malarial drug) to denatonium (the most bitter chemical compound known).
"We reported the identification of a receptor, Gr33a, which is expressed in all gustatory receptor neurons (GRNs) that respond to avoidance compounds," Montell said. "We generated a mutation in Gr33a and found that the mutant flies were unable to detect every repellent compound tested that is sensed through contact chemosensation."
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