Involvement of a Gr2a-expressing Drosophila pharyngeal gustatory receptor neuron in regulation of aversion to high-salt foods

Haein Kim, Yong Taek Jeong, Min Sung Choi, Jaekyun Choi, Seok Jun Moon, Jae Young Kwon

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

10 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

Regulation of feeding is essential for animal survival. The pharyngeal sense organs can act as a second checkpoint of food quality, due to their position between external taste organs such as the labellum which initially assess food quality, and the digestive tract. Growing evidence provides support that the pharyngeal sensory neurons regulate feeding, but much is still unknown. We found that a pair of gustatory receptor neurons in the LSO, a Drosophila adult pharyngeal organ which expresses four gustatory receptors, is involved in feeding inhibition in response to high concentrations of sodium ions. RNAi experiments and mutant analysis showed that the gustatory receptor Gr2a is necessary for this process. This feeding preference determined by whether a food source is perceived as appetizing or not is influenced by nutritional conditions, such that when the animal is hungry, the need for energy dominates over how appealing the food source is. Our results provide experimental evidence that factors involved in feeding function in a context-dependent manner.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)331-338
Number of pages8
JournalMolecules and cells
Volume40
Issue number5
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 2017 Jan 1
Externally publishedYes

Bibliographical note

Publisher Copyright:
© The Korean Society for Molecular and Cellular Biology.

Keywords

  • Drosophila melanogaster
  • Feeding
  • Gustatory receptor
  • Pharyngeal sense organ

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • Molecular Biology
  • Cell Biology

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