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Structure basis for sugar specificity of gustatory receptors in insects

Year: 2024

Type: article

Abstract: Taste perception is essential for food selection and animal feeding behaviors 1 . While mammals use G protein-coupled receptors (GPCRs) for sweet and bitter tastant perception, insects such as fruit flies use a unique family of proteins called gustatory receptors (Grs) 2 . Attractive sweet compounds and aversive bitter compounds are perceived by different subsets of Grs distributed in distinct subpopulations of sensory cells, which eventually drive innate attraction or repellency 1 . Like mammals, this is crucial for choosing the appropriate food, and thereby for the survival of insects 1 . 8 members (Gr5a, Gr61a, and Gr64a–f) out of 68 Grs from Drosophila melanogaster 3 , 4 are found to be located in sweet taste neurons 5 , and most of them are involved in sweet perception 6 . Among them, Gr5a, essential for trehalose sensing, is the first member with known sugar specificity 7 , whereas Gr64a was suggested to be essential for sensing multiple sugars, including glucose, sucrose, and maltose 8 . More recently, Gr43a and its homologs were identified as narrowly tuned fructose receptors, and they were also found to be expressed in the brain and function as a sensor for the hemolymph fructose levels, thereby regulating the feeding behaviors 9 .

Source: Cell Discovery

DOI: 10.1038/s41421-024-00716-6