Bacteria taste
Published on 17 September 2024
Tasting bacteria in childhood conditions adult taste responses
In an original study published in the journal Nature Communications, Montanari and colleagues highlight a poorly understood aspect of bacterial detection by the gustatory system, which enables potential pathogens in food to be recognized and avoided. Researchers from Professor Julien Royet's team in Marseille and the CSGA's PERSING team have discovered that peptidoglycan (PGN), which composes the cell wall of bacteria, triggers an immediate aversive food response in Drosophila, a model organism that reveals common signaling mechanisms in the animal kingdom, including humans. Two types of gustatory neurons were identified as being required to transmit the signal arising from PGN detection.
In a surprising and as yet unknown way, the authors were able to reveal that these same neurons play different roles in this process. A first subpopulation of neurons is required in adults to directly transmit and translate the signal from PGN, while a second population must be functional in larvae to enable future adults to become sensitive to PGN. Thus, the researchers discovered that the genetic and environmental characteristics of the larvae are essential to enable the adults to respond appropriately to PGN. These innovative results demonstrate that future adults need to be exposed to certain sensory stimuli during their larval stage to be able to respond properly.
This discovery is fundamental and opens up whole areas of future research to understand how our sensory experiences during childhood determine our tastes and help protect us as adults.
Contacts within the CSGA
Yaël GROSJEAN
yael.grosjean@ube.fr
To go further
Larval microbiota primes the Drosophila adult gustatory response
Martina Montanari, Gérard Manière, Martine Berthelot-Grosjean, Yves Dusabyinema, Benjamin Gillet, Yaël Grosjean, Léopold Kurz, Julien Royet.
Nat Comm. DOI: 10.1038/s41467-024-45532-4
Key words
Drosophila, larvae, adults, bacteria, taste, neurobiology