Salt taste, the taste of sodium chloride (NaCl), is mechanistically one of the most complex
and puzzling among basic tastes. Sodium has essential functions in the body but causes …

Insects thrive in diverse ecological niches in large part because of their highly sophisticated
olfactory systems. Over the last two decades, a major focus in the study of insect olfaction …

Genetic approaches in the fruit fly, Drosophila melanogaster, have led to a major triumph in
the field of sensory biology—the discovery of multiple large families of sensory receptors …

The insect gustatory system senses taste information from environmental food substrates
and processes it to control feeding behaviors. Drosophila melanogaster has been a …

Through analysis of the Drosophila ionotropic receptors (IRs), a family of variant ionotropic
glutamate receptors, we reveal that most IRs are expressed in peripheral neuron …

Each taste modality is generally encoded by a single, molecularly defined, population of
sensory cells. However, salt stimulates multiple taste pathways in mammals and insects …

The Anthropocene Epoch poses a critical challenge for organisms: they must cope with new
threats at a rapid rate. These threats include toxic chemical compounds released into the …

Amino acids are essential nutrients that act as building blocks for protein synthesis. Recent
studies in Drosophila have demonstrated that glycine, phenylalanine, and threonine elicit …

Most insect species rely on the detection of olfactory cues for critical behaviors for the
survival of the species, eg, finding food, suitable mates and appropriate egg-laying sites …

The decision to consume or reject a food based on the degree of acidity is critical for animal
survival. However, the gustatory receptors that detect sour compounds and influence …