Drosophila melanogaster Prefers Compounds Perceived Sweet by Humans

Authors: Gordesky-Gold, Beth; Rivers, Natasha; Ahmed, Osama M.; Breslin, Paul A.S.

Source: Chemical Senses, Volume 33, Number 3, 29 March 2008 , pp. 301-309(9)

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Abstract:

To understand the functional similarities of fly and mammalian taste receptors, we used a topdown approach that first established the fly sweetenerresponse profile. We employed the fruit fly Drosophila melanogaster, an omnivorous human commensal, and determined its sensitivity to an extended set of stimuli that humans find sweet. Flies were tested with all sweeteners in 2 assays that measured their taste reactivity (proboscis extension assay) and their ingestive preferences (free roaming ingestion choice test). A total of 21 sweeteners, comprised of 11 high-potency sweeteners, 2 amino acids, 5 sugars, 2 sugar alcohols, and a sweet salt (PbCl₂), were tested in both assays. We found that wild-type Drosophila responded appetitively to most high-potency sweeteners preferred by humans, even those not considered sweet by rodents or new world monkeys. The similarities in taste preferences for sweeteners suggest that frugivorous/omnivorous apes and flies have evolved promiscuous carbohydrate taste detectors with similar affinities for myriad high-potency sweeteners. Whether these perceptual parallels are the result of convergent evolution of saccharide receptorbinding mechanisms remains to be determined.

Keywords: comparative taste; convergent evolution; detection; high-potency sweeteners; ingestion; taste

Document Type: Research article

DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.1093/chemse/bjm088

Publication date: 2008-03-29

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Chemical Senses publishes original research and review papers on all aspects of chemoreception in both humans and animals. An important part of the journal's coverage is devoted to techniques and the development and application of new methods for investigating chemoreception and chemosensory structures.