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A Gr receptor is required for response to the sugar trehalose in taste neurons of Drosophila

Abstract

We recently identified from the Drosophila genome database a large family of G protein–coupled receptor genes, the Gr genes, and predicted that they encode taste receptors on the basis of their structure and specificity of expression. The expression of Gr genes in gustatory neurons has subsequently been confirmed and 56 family members have been reported. Here we provide functional evidence that one Gr gene, Gr5a, encodes a taste receptor required for response to the sugar trehalose. In two different mutants that carry deletions in Gr5a, electrophysiological and behavioral responses to trehalose were diminished but the response to sucrose was unaffected. Transgenic rescue experiments showed that Gr5a confers response to trehalose. The results correlate a particular taste ligand with a Gr receptor and indicate a role for G protein–mediated signaling in the transduction of sweet taste in Drosophila.

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Figure 1: Molecular structure of the Gr5a locus.
Figure 2: Gr5a mutants show sugar-specific physiological and behavioral defects.
Figure 3: Gr5a rescues the physiological defect of Tre mutants.
Figure 4: Gr5a rescues the behavioral defect of Tre mutants.

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Acknowledgements

We thank K. Isono for providing strains and members of the Carlson laboratory for comments on the manuscript. The research was supported by an NRSA to A.D. and NIH grants and a McKnight Investigator Award to J.R.C.

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Correspondence to John R. Carlson.

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Dahanukar, A., Foster, K., van der Goes van Naters, W. et al. A Gr receptor is required for response to the sugar trehalose in taste neurons of Drosophila. Nat Neurosci 4, 1182–1186 (2001). https://doi.org/10.1038/nn765

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