Internal amino acid state modulates yeast taste neurons to support protein homeostasis in Drosophila
- Champalimaud Centre for the Unknown, Portugal
Abstract
To optimize fitness, animals must dynamically match food choices to their current needs. For drosophilids, yeast fulfils most dietary protein and micronutrient requirements. While several yeast metabolites activate known gustatory receptor neurons (GRNs) in Drosophila melanogaster, the chemosensory channels mediating yeast feeding remain unknown. Here we identify a class of proboscis GRNs required for yeast intake. Within this class, taste peg GRNs are specifically required to sustain yeast feeding. Sensillar GRNs, however, mediate feeding initiation. Furthermore, the response of yeast GRNs, but not sweet GRNs, is enhanced following deprivation from amino acids, providing a potential basis for protein-specific appetite. Although nutritional and reproductive states synergistically increase yeast appetite, reproductive state acts independently of nutritional state, modulating processing downstream of GRNs. Together, these results suggest that different internal states act at distinct levels of a dedicated gustatory circuit to elicit nutrient-specific appetites towards a complex, ecologically relevant protein source.
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Author details
Funding
Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia (PTDC/BIA-BCM/118684/2010)
- Carlos Ribeiro
Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia (SFRH/BPD/79325/2011)
- Pavel M Itskov
Human Frontier Science Program (RGP0022/2012)
- Carlos Ribeiro
Fundação Bial (283/14)
- Carlos Ribeiro
Fundação Bial (279/16)
- Carlos Ribeiro
European Commission (FLiACT ITN)
- Carlos Ribeiro
Champalimaud Foundation
- Carlos Ribeiro
The funders had no role in study design, data collection and interpretation, or the decision to submit the work for publication.
Copyright
© 2018, Steck et al.
This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License permitting unrestricted use and redistribution provided that the original author and source are credited.
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Internal amino acid state modulates yeast taste neurons to support protein homeostasis in Drosophila
eLife 7:e31625.
https://doi.org/10.7554/eLife.31625
