title: Candidate taste receptors in Drosophila.
abstract: Little is known about the molecular mechanisms of taste perception in animals, particularly the initial events of taste signaling. A large and diverse family of seven transmembrane domain proteins was identified from the Drosophila genome database with a computer algorithm that identifies proteins on the basis of structure. Eighteen of 19 genes examined were expressed in the Drosophila labellum, a gustatory organ of the proboscis. Expression was not detected in a variety of other tissues. The genes were not expressed in the labellum of a Drosophila mutant, pox-neuro70, in which taste neurons are eliminated. Tissue specificity of expression of these genes, along with their structural similarity, supports the possibility that the family encodes a large and divergent family of taste receptors.
authors.affiliation: Department of Molecular, Cellular, and Developmental Biology, Yale University, Post Office Box 208103, New Haven, CT 06520-8103, USA.
authors.forename: P J
authors.initials: PJ
authors.lastname: Clyne
authors.forename: C G
authors.initials: CG
authors.lastname: Warr
authors.forename: J R
authors.initials: JR
authors.lastname: Carlson
mesh_terms: D000465:Algorithms; D017398:Alternative Splicing; D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D000818:Animals; D002628:Chemoreceptor Cells / Q000378:metabolism*; D029721:Drosophila Proteins; D004331:Drosophila melanogaster / Q000737:chemistry / Q000235:genetics* / Q000502:physiology; D005091:Exons; D015870:Gene Expression; D017344:Genes, Insect; D017403:In Situ Hybridization; D019476:Insect Proteins / Q000737:chemistry / Q000235:genetics* / Q000502:physiology; D008565:Membrane Proteins / Q000737:chemistry / Q000235:genetics* / Q000502:physiology; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D005810:Multigene Family; D009475:Neurons, Afferent / Q000378:metabolism*; D009928:Organ Specificity; D017434:Protein Structure, Tertiary; D011956:Receptors, Cell Surface / Q000737:chemistry / Q000235:genetics* / Q000502:physiology; D020133:Reverse Transcriptase Polymerase Chain Reaction; D012679:Sense Organs / Q000737:chemistry / Q000502:physiology; D016415:Sequence Alignment; D013649:Taste / Q000502:physiology
chemical_list: D029721:Drosophila Proteins; D019476:Insect Proteins; D008565:Membrane Proteins; D011956:Receptors, Cell Surface; C405956:gustatory receptor, Drosophila