Role of membrane-bound calcium in taste reception of the frog

1. The frog gustatory responses to various salt stimuli and distilled water were greatly enhanced after the tongue was treated with an alkaline solution containing salts of low concentration. The incubation of the alkali-treated tongue in solution of pH 6.0 containing Ca2+ restored reversibly the behaviour of the gustatory receptor to that before the treatment, while Mg2+ had no ability to do this. 2. The responses to salt stimuli and distilled water were greatly decreased after the tongue was incubated in solutions of pH 5.3 containing Ca2+. 3. On piece of tongue incubated in a solution of pH 5.3 containing 45Ca released a larger amount of 45Ca by the alkali treatment than another piece incubated in pH 7.0. It was concluded that removal of Ca2+ from the gustatory receptor membrane by the alkali treatment led to enhancement of the responses and binding of extra Ca2+ to the membrane by the incubation in acidic CaCl2 solution led to suppression of the responses. We emphasized that a conformational change of the receptor domains plays an important role in the transduction process of the gustatory response.