title: Preference for and learning of amino acids in larvalDrosophila.
abstract: Relative to other nutrients, less is known about how animals sense amino acids and how behaviour is organized accordingly. This is a significant gap in our knowledge because amino acids are required for protein synthesis - and hence for life as we know it. ChoosingDrosophilalarvae as a case study, we provide the first systematic analysis of both the preference behaviour for, and the learning of, all 20 canonical amino acids inDrosophilaWe report that preference for individual amino acids differs according to the kind of amino acid, both in first-instar and in third-instar larvae. Our data suggest that this preference profile changes across larval instars, and that starvation during the third instar also alters this profile. Only aspartic acid turns out to be robustly attractive across all our experiments. The essentiality of amino acids does not appear to be a determinant of preference. Interestingly, although amino acids thus differ in their innate attractiveness, we find that all amino acids are equally rewarding. Similar discrepancies between innate attractiveness and reinforcing effect have previously been reported for other tastants, including sugars, bitter substances and salt. The present analyses will facilitate the ongoing search for the receptors, sensory neurons, and internal, homeostatic amino acid sensors inDrosophila.
authors.affiliation: Department of Biology, Faculty of Science, Kyushu University, Motooka 744, Fukuoka 819-0395, Japan.
authors.forename: Nana
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Kudow
authors.affiliation: Division of Biological Science, Graduate School of Systems Life Sciences, Kyushu University, Motooka 744, Fukuoka 819-0395, Japan.
authors.forename: Daisuke
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Miura
authors.affiliation: Leibniz Institute for Neurobiology (LIN), Department Genetics of Learning and Memory, Brenneckestrasse 6, Magdeburg 39118, Germany.
authors.forename: Michael
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Schleyer
authors.affiliation: Division of Biological Science, Graduate School of Systems Life Sciences, Kyushu University, Motooka 744, Fukuoka 819-0395, Japan.|Leibniz Institute for Neurobiology (LIN), Department Genetics of Learning and Memory, Brenneckestrasse 6, Magdeburg 39118, Germany.
authors.forename: Naoko
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Toshima
authors.affiliation: Leibniz Institute for Neurobiology (LIN), Department Genetics of Learning and Memory, Brenneckestrasse 6, Magdeburg 39118, Germany.|Center for Behavioral Brain Sciences (CBBS), Universitätsplatz 2, 39106 Magdeburg, Germany.|Otto von Guericke University Magdeburg, Institute for Biology, Universitätsplatz 2, Magdeburg 39106, Germany.
authors.forename: Bertram
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Gerber
authors.affiliation: Department of Biology, Faculty of Science, Kyushu University, Motooka 744, Fukuoka 819-0395, Japan tanimura@kyudai.jp.|Division of Biological Science, Graduate School of Systems Life Sciences, Kyushu University, Motooka 744, Fukuoka 819-0395, Japan.
authors.forename: Teiichi
authors.identifier: http://orcid.org/0000-0001-5730-8848
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Tanimura
keywords: Amino acid; Drosophila; Gustation; Learning; Preference