Hanyang Med Rev.  2014 Aug;34(3):130-136. 10.7599/hmr.2014.34.3.130.

Taste Sensation in Drosophila melanoganster

• Lee Y
• Poudel S

• KMID: 2284354
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.7599/hmr.2014.34.3.130

Abstract

Animals find nutritious foods to survive, while avoiding aversive and toxic chemicals through the chemosensory faculties of olfaction and taste. The olfaction is comparatively well characterized, but the studies of taste are only recently developing since after 2000. Genetic, immunohistochemistry, and electrophysiological studies with knock-out transgenic mice opened up the taste field in mammals. Taste in insects has been only recently been studied after mammalian taste receptors were identified. Flies also discriminate the differences of sweet, salty and sour food, while being able to detect and reject potential foods contaminated with toxins or detrimental chemicals. These discriminatory abilities indicate that flies house basic taste receptors in their taste organs like humans. For the last decade, the sweet and bitter gustatory receptors in Drosophila have been characterized. In this review, we compare the taste anatomy between humans and insects. We also introduce five canonical taste sensations in Drosophila. In addition, we introduce new taste repertoires, that fruit flies can sense water and fatty acids as well as the carbonation buffer in beverage. These studies on simple model organisms will open up a new potential for scientists to further investigate these characteristics in vertebrates.

Keyword

Taste; Drosophila; Gustatory Receptors; Behaviour; Electrophysiology

MeSH Terms

Animals
Beverages
Carbon
Diptera
Drosophila*
Electrophysiology
Fatty Acids
Fruit
Humans
Immunohistochemistry
Insects
Mammals
Mice
Mice, Transgenic
Sensation*
Smell
Vertebrates
Carbon
Fatty Acids

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