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A Temperature Gradient Assay to Determine Thermal Preferences of Drosophila Larvae
Published on: June 25, 2018
Function of rhodopsin in temperature discrimination in Drosophila
Wei L Shen1, Young Kwon, Abidemi A Adegbola
1Department of Biological Chemistry, Center for Sensory Biology, The Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD 21205, USA.
Science (New York, N.Y.)
|March 12, 2011
Summary
Fruit fly larvae use a specific pathway for temperature selection, involving G protein, phospholipase C, and TRPA1 channels. Rhodopsin, a G protein-coupled receptor, is crucial for this light-independent thermotaxis.
Area of Science:
- Animal behavior
- Neuroscience
- Molecular biology
Background:
- Animals exhibit thermosensitivity, with fruit flies (Drosophila) demonstrating precise temperature selection.
- Drosophila larval thermotaxis relies on a pathway involving G protein, phospholipase C, and TRPA1 channels.
- The specific role of G protein-coupled receptors (GPCRs) in this thermosensory pathway was previously unclear.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the role of Drosophila rhodopsin (encoded by ninaE) in thermotactic behavior.
- To determine if rhodopsin's function in thermotaxis is light-dependent.
- To explore the potential for conserved GPCR function in thermosensation.
Main Methods:
- Genetic mutation of the ninaE gene in Drosophila larvae.
- Behavioral assays to assess thermotactic discrimination at comfortable temperatures.
- Functional rescue experiments using mouse melanopsin in mutant larvae.
Main Results:
- Mutation of the ninaE gene, encoding rhodopsin, abolished thermotactic discrimination in Drosophila larvae.
- This thermotactic defect occurred independently of light exposure.
- Introduction of mouse melanopsin restored normal thermotactic behavior in ninaE mutant larvae.
Conclusions:
- Drosophila rhodopsin plays a critical, light-independent role in initiating thermosensory signaling for thermotaxis.
- Rhodopsins represent a conserved class of GPCRs essential for thermosensory pathways.
- This finding expands the known functions of GPCRs beyond phototransduction.
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