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A mechanosensory receptor required for food texture detection in Drosophila

Author

Listed:
  • Juan Antonio Sánchez-Alcañiz

    (Center for Integrative Genomics, Faculty of Biology and Medicine, Génopode Building, University of Lausanne)

  • Giovanna Zappia

    (Center for Integrative Genomics, Faculty of Biology and Medicine, Génopode Building, University of Lausanne)

  • Frédéric Marion-Poll

    (UMR Evolution, Génomes, Comportement, Ecologie, CNRS, IRD, Univ. Paris-Sud, Université Paris-Saclay
    AgroParisTech, Université Paris-Saclay)

  • Richard Benton

    (Center for Integrative Genomics, Faculty of Biology and Medicine, Génopode Building, University of Lausanne)

Abstract

Textural properties provide information on the ingestibility, digestibility and state of ripeness or decay of sources of nutrition. Compared with our understanding of the chemosensory assessment of food, little is known about the mechanisms of texture detection. Here we show that Drosophila melanogaster can discriminate food texture, avoiding substrates that are either too hard or too soft. Manipulations of food substrate properties and flies' chemosensory inputs indicate that texture preferences are revealed only in the presence of an appetitive stimulus, but are not because of changes in nutrient accessibility, suggesting that animals discriminate the substrates’ mechanical characteristics. We show that texture preference requires NOMPC, a TRP-family mechanosensory channel. NOMPC localizes to the sensory dendrites of neurons housed within gustatory sensilla, and is essential for their mechanosensory-evoked responses. Our results identify a sensory pathway for texture detection and reveal the behavioural integration of chemical and physical qualities of food.

Suggested Citation

  • Juan Antonio Sánchez-Alcañiz & Giovanna Zappia & Frédéric Marion-Poll & Richard Benton, 2017. "A mechanosensory receptor required for food texture detection in Drosophila," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 8(1), pages 1-9, April.
    • Handle: RePEc:nat:natcom:v:8:y:2017:i:1:d:10.1038_ncomms14192
    DOI: 10.1038/ncomms14192
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    Cited by:

    1. Gwénaëlle Bontonou & Bastien Saint-Leandre & Tane Kafle & Tess Baticle & Afrah Hassan & Juan Antonio Sánchez-Alcañiz & J. Roman Arguello, 2024. "Evolution of chemosensory tissues and cells across ecologically diverse Drosophilids," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 15(1), pages 1-17, December.
    2. Raquel Álvarez-Ocaña & Michael P. Shahandeh & Vijayaditya Ray & Thomas O. Auer & Nicolas Gompel & Richard Benton, 2023. "Odor-regulated oviposition behavior in an ecological specialist," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 14(1), pages 1-15, December.

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