Drosophila bitter taste(s)
Most animals possess taste receptors neurons detecting potentially noxious compounds. In humans, the ligands which activate these neurons define a sensory space called bitter. By extension, this term has been used in animals and insects to define molecules which induce aversive responses. In this re...
| Main Authors: | , , , , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Frontiers Media S.A.
2015-11-01
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| Series: | Frontiers in Integrative Neuroscience |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | http://journal.frontiersin.org/Journal/10.3389/fnint.2015.00058/full |
| _version_ | 1819206690026815488 |
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| author | Alice eFrench Mutaz eAli Agha Aniruddha eMitra Aya eYanagawa Aya eYanagawa Marie-Jeanne eSellier Frédéric eMarion-Poll Frédéric eMarion-Poll |
| author_facet | Alice eFrench Mutaz eAli Agha Aniruddha eMitra Aya eYanagawa Aya eYanagawa Marie-Jeanne eSellier Frédéric eMarion-Poll Frédéric eMarion-Poll |
| author_sort | Alice eFrench |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Most animals possess taste receptors neurons detecting potentially noxious compounds. In humans, the ligands which activate these neurons define a sensory space called bitter. By extension, this term has been used in animals and insects to define molecules which induce aversive responses. In this review, based on our observations carried out in Drosophila, we examine how bitter compounds are detected and if the activation of bitter-sensitive neurons respond only to molecules bitter to humans. Like most animals, flies detect bitter chemicals through a specific population of taste neurons, distinct from those responding to sugars or to other modalities. Activating bitter-sensitive taste neurons induce aversive reactions and inhibits feeding. Bitter molecules also contribute to the suppression of sugar-neuron responses and can lead to a complete inhibition of the responses to sugar at the periphery. Since some bitter molecules activate bitter-sensitive neurons and some inhibit sugar detection, bitter molecules are represented by two sensory spaces which are only partially congruent. In addition to molecules which impact feeding, we recently discovered that the activation of bitter-sensitive neurons also induces grooming. Bitter-sensitive neurons of the wings and of the legs can sense chemicals from the gram negative bacteria, Escherichia coli, thus adding another biological function to these receptors. Bitter-sensitive neurons of the proboscis also respond to inhibitory pheromones such as 7-tricosene. Activating these neurons by bitter molecules in the context of sexual encounter inhibits courting and sexual reproduction, while activating these neurons with 7-tricosene in a feeding context will inhibit feeding. The picture that emerges from these observations is that the taste system is composed of detectors which monitor different categories of ligands, which facilitate or inhibit behaviors depending on the context (feeding, sexual reproduction, hygienic behavior), thus considerably extending the initial definition of bitter tasting. |
| first_indexed | 2024-12-23T05:11:36Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-7d3d03644f2643d48e635d2b36326603 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 1662-5145 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-12-23T05:11:36Z |
| publishDate | 2015-11-01 |
| publisher | Frontiers Media S.A. |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Frontiers in Integrative Neuroscience |
| spelling | doaj.art-7d3d03644f2643d48e635d2b363266032022-12-21T17:58:58ZengFrontiers Media S.A.Frontiers in Integrative Neuroscience1662-51452015-11-01910.3389/fnint.2015.00058171772Drosophila bitter taste(s)Alice eFrench0Mutaz eAli Agha1Aniruddha eMitra2Aya eYanagawa3Aya eYanagawa4Marie-Jeanne eSellier5Frédéric eMarion-Poll6Frédéric eMarion-Poll7Université Paris-SaclayUniversité Paris-SaclayUniversité Paris-SaclayUniversité Paris-SaclayKyoto UniversityUniversité Paris-SaclayUniversité Paris-SaclayUniversity Paris-SaclayMost animals possess taste receptors neurons detecting potentially noxious compounds. In humans, the ligands which activate these neurons define a sensory space called bitter. By extension, this term has been used in animals and insects to define molecules which induce aversive responses. In this review, based on our observations carried out in Drosophila, we examine how bitter compounds are detected and if the activation of bitter-sensitive neurons respond only to molecules bitter to humans. Like most animals, flies detect bitter chemicals through a specific population of taste neurons, distinct from those responding to sugars or to other modalities. Activating bitter-sensitive taste neurons induce aversive reactions and inhibits feeding. Bitter molecules also contribute to the suppression of sugar-neuron responses and can lead to a complete inhibition of the responses to sugar at the periphery. Since some bitter molecules activate bitter-sensitive neurons and some inhibit sugar detection, bitter molecules are represented by two sensory spaces which are only partially congruent. In addition to molecules which impact feeding, we recently discovered that the activation of bitter-sensitive neurons also induces grooming. Bitter-sensitive neurons of the wings and of the legs can sense chemicals from the gram negative bacteria, Escherichia coli, thus adding another biological function to these receptors. Bitter-sensitive neurons of the proboscis also respond to inhibitory pheromones such as 7-tricosene. Activating these neurons by bitter molecules in the context of sexual encounter inhibits courting and sexual reproduction, while activating these neurons with 7-tricosene in a feeding context will inhibit feeding. The picture that emerges from these observations is that the taste system is composed of detectors which monitor different categories of ligands, which facilitate or inhibit behaviors depending on the context (feeding, sexual reproduction, hygienic behavior), thus considerably extending the initial definition of bitter tasting.http://journal.frontiersin.org/Journal/10.3389/fnint.2015.00058/fullBehavior, AnimalElectrophysiologyInsectsPheromonesTasteaversive |
| spellingShingle | Alice eFrench Mutaz eAli Agha Aniruddha eMitra Aya eYanagawa Aya eYanagawa Marie-Jeanne eSellier Frédéric eMarion-Poll Frédéric eMarion-Poll Drosophila bitter taste(s) Frontiers in Integrative Neuroscience Behavior, Animal Electrophysiology Insects Pheromones Taste aversive |
| title | Drosophila bitter taste(s) |
| title_full | Drosophila bitter taste(s) |
| title_fullStr | Drosophila bitter taste(s) |
| title_full_unstemmed | Drosophila bitter taste(s) |
| title_short | Drosophila bitter taste(s) |
| title_sort | drosophila bitter taste s |
| topic | Behavior, Animal Electrophysiology Insects Pheromones Taste aversive |
| url | http://journal.frontiersin.org/Journal/10.3389/fnint.2015.00058/full |
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