Impact of Ionotropic Receptor Mutants on an Amino Acid Feeding Response

Conference Year

2024

Abstract

Drosophila melanogaster have similar food-sensing behaviors to humans. The complete mechanism for tasting amino acids is still unknown across organisms. We identified the role of different ionotropic receptors (IR) in amino acid feeding behavior by observing proboscis extension response (PER) in mutated flies. Three mutant ionotropic receptors were studied for their effect on PER. Homozygous mutations in IR76b and IR25a showed decreased PER, whereas IR94e showed an increased feeding response. Uniquely, we found an intermediate response occurs in heterozygous phenotypes. Our data suggests that IRs play an important role in amino acid detecting.

Primary Faculty Mentor Name

Molly Stanley

Graduate Student Mentors

Jacqueline Guillemin

Status

Undergraduate

Student College

College of Agriculture and Life Sciences

Program/Major

Biological Science

Primary Research Category

Life Sciences

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Impact of Ionotropic Receptor Mutants on an Amino Acid Feeding Response

Drosophila melanogaster have similar food-sensing behaviors to humans. The complete mechanism for tasting amino acids is still unknown across organisms. We identified the role of different ionotropic receptors (IR) in amino acid feeding behavior by observing proboscis extension response (PER) in mutated flies. Three mutant ionotropic receptors were studied for their effect on PER. Homozygous mutations in IR76b and IR25a showed decreased PER, whereas IR94e showed an increased feeding response. Uniquely, we found an intermediate response occurs in heterozygous phenotypes. Our data suggests that IRs play an important role in amino acid detecting.