Direct Sensing of Nutrients via a LAT1-like Transporter in Drosophila Insulin-Producing Cells

Summary Dietary leucine has been suspected to play an important role in insulin release, a hormone that controls satiety and metabolism. The mechanism by which insulin-producing cells (IPCs) sense leucine and regulate insulin secretion is still poorly understood. In Drosophila, insulin-like peptides (DILP2 and DILP5) are produced by brain IPCs and are released in the hemolymph after leucine ingestion. Using Ca2+-imaging and ex vivo cultured larval brains, we demonstrate that IPCs can directly sense extracellular leucine levels via minidiscs (MND), a leucine transporter. MND knockdown in IPCs abolished leucine-dependent changes, including loss of DILP2 and DILP5 in IPC bodies, consistent wit…

Fatty Acid Smell, Anesthesia, and Use on Fruit Crops

Odors convey important information to select a sex partner, to find a food source, or to detect a danger. Among those some volatile molecules have been shown to cause a reversible anesthesia. However, their mode of action appears still largely mysterious. Here we describe a novel property of Olfactory Receptor 47b (OR47b), on olfactory sensory neurons (OSNs) expressing male-specific transcription factor FruM. We found some interesting properties of a fatty acid that can be present on food sources and oviposition sites for Drosophilid species. We show that OR47b neurons projecting to VA1v glomerulus are sensitive to this odor, and that this influences Drosophila behavior causing a strong ave…

The Amino Acid Transporter JhI-21 Coevolves with Glutamate Receptors, Impacts NMJ Physiology, and Influences Locomotor Activity in Drosophila Larvae

AbstractChanges in synaptic physiology underlie neuronal network plasticity and behavioral phenomena, which are adjusted during development. The Drosophila larval glutamatergic neuromuscular junction (NMJ) represents a powerful synaptic model to investigate factors impacting these processes. Amino acids such as glutamate have been shown to regulate Drosophila NMJ physiology by modulating the clustering of postsynaptic glutamate receptors and thereby regulating the strength of signal transmission from the motor neuron to the muscle cell. To identify amino acid transporters impacting glutmatergic signal transmission, we used Evolutionary Rate Covariation (ERC), a recently developed bioinforma…

Sex-specific anesthesia via olfactory receptor inhibition in Drosophila

International audience

High-NaCl perception in drosophila melanogaster

Salt is a fundamental nutrient that is required for many physiological processes, including electrolyte homeostasis and neuronal activity. In mammals and Drosophila, the detection of NaCl induces two different behaviors: low-salt concentrations provide an attractive stimulus, whereas high-salt concentrations are avoided. We identified the gene called serrano (sano) as being expressed in the sensory organs of Drosophila larvae. A transgenic reporter line showed that sano was coexpressed with Gr66a in a subset of gustatory neurons in the terminal organ of third-instar larvae. The disruption of sano gene expression in gustatory neurons led to the specific loss of high-salt concentration avoida…

Chimio-détection, signalisation et intégration nerveuse chez la drosophile

Composition répulsive et utilisations

La présente invention se rapporte à l'utilisation d’au moins un acide gras, avantageusement volatile et odorant, choisi dans le groupe 5 comprenant l’acide propionique, l’acide butyrique et/ou un dérivé de ceux-ci comme principe actif répulsif et/ou pour contrôler la reproduction de brachycères, et à l’utilisation d’une composition, en particulier phytosanitaire, comprenant au moins un acide gras, avantageusement volatile et odorant, choisi dans le groupe comprenant l’acide propionique, 10 l’acide butyrique et/ou un dérivé de ceux-ci comme principe actif répulsif et/ou pour contrôler la reproduction de brachycères avantageusement par olfaction, et non-insecticide. La présente invention trou…