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The Journal of Neuroscience, June 7, 2006, 26(23):6143-6152; doi:10.1523/JNEUROSCI.0857-06.2006

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Cellular/Molecular
Gs Is Involved in Sugar Perception in Drosophila melanogaster

Kohei Ueno,¹ Soh Kohatsu,³ Catherine Clay,⁴ Michael Forte,⁴ Kunio Isono,³ and Yoshiaki Kidokoro^1,2

¹Department of Behavioral Sciences, Graduate School of Medicine, and ²Institute for Molecular and Cellular Regulation, Gunma University, Maebashi 371-8511, Japan, ³Graduate School of Information Sciences, Tohoku University, Sendai 980-8579, Japan, and ⁴Vollum Institute of Oregon Health and Science University, Portland, Oregon 97239

Correspondence should be addressed to Kohei Ueno, Department of Behavioral Sciences, Graduate School of Medicine, Gunma University, Maebashi 371-8511, Japan. Email: kueno{at}med.gunma-u.ac.jp

In Drosophila melanogaster, gustatory receptor genes (Grs) encode G-protein-coupled receptors (GPCRs) in gustatory receptor neurons (GRNs) and some olfactory receptor neurons. One of the Gr genes, Gr5a, encodes a sugar receptor that is expressed in a subset of GRNs and has been most extensively studied both molecularly and physiologically, but the G-protein subunit (G) that is coupled to this sugar receptor remains unknown. Here, we propose that Gs is the G that is responsible for Gr5a-mediated sugar-taste transduction, based on the following findings: First, immunoreactivities against Gs were detected in a subset of GRNs including all Gr5a-expressing neurons. Second, trehalose-intake is reduced in flies heterozygous for null mutations in DGs, a homolog of mammalian Gs, and trehalose-induced electrical activities in sugar-sensitive GRNs were depressed in those flies. Furthermore, expression of wild-type DGs in sugar-sensitive GRNs in heterozygotic DGs mutant flies rescued those impairments. Third, expression of double-stranded RNA for DGs in sugar-sensitive GRNs depressed both behavioral and electrophysiological responses to trehalose. Together, these findings indicate that DGs is involved in trehalose perception. We suggest that sugar-taste signals are processed through the Gs-mediating signal transduction pathway in sugar-sensitive GRNs in Drosophila.

Key words: gustatory receptor; Gs; Drosophila melanogaster; sweet taste; trehalose; cAMP transduction pathway

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Received Oct. 16, 2005; revised April 14, 2006; accepted April 15, 2006.

Correspondence should be addressed to Kohei Ueno, Department of Behavioral Sciences, Graduate School of Medicine, Gunma University, Maebashi 371-8511, Japan. Email: kueno{at}med.gunma-u.ac.jp

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