Regulation of gustatory physiology and appetitive behavior by the Drosophila circadian clock.

ABSTRACT:

Background

Circadian regulation of chemosensory processes is common in animals, but little is known about how circadian clocks control chemosensory systems or the consequences of rhythms in chemosensory system function. Taste is a major chemosensory gate used to decide whether or not an animal will eat, and the main taste organ in Drosophila, the proboscis, harbors autonomous circadian oscillators. Here we examine gustatory physiology, tastant-evoked appetitive behavior, and food ingestion to understand clock-dependent regulation of the Drosophila gustatory system.

Results

Here we report that single-unit responses from labellar gustatory receptor neurons (GRNs) to attractive and aversive tastants show diurnal and circadian rhythms in spike amplitude, frequency, and duration

SUBMITTER: Chatterjee A 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4234688 | biostudies-literature | 2010 Feb

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature