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Updated: Jan 6, 2026
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Whole-Mount Staining, Visualization, and Analysis of Fungiform, Circumvallate, and Palate Taste Buds
Published on: February 11, 2021
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Taste bud formation depends on taste nerves
Di Fan1,2, Zoubida Chettouh1, G Giacomo Consalez3
1Institut de Biologie de l'ENS (IBENS), Inserm, CNRS, École normale supérieure, PSL Research University, Paris, France.
Elife
|October 2, 2019
Summary
Taste bud formation in mammals requires specific taste neurons, not touch neurons. This study genetically removed oral neurons in mice to reveal the critical role of taste nerve development in forming taste buds.
Area of Science:
- Neuroscience
- Developmental Biology
- Sensory Biology
Background:
- Vertebrate taste bud maintenance relies on nerves.
- Taste bud formation is debated, possibly nerve-independent in amphibians, but evidence in mammals is inconclusive due to developmental timing challenges.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the necessity of innervation for the initial formation of taste buds in mammals.
- To differentiate the roles of somatic (touch) versus visceral (taste) neurons in taste bud development.
Main Methods:
- Genetic ablation of specific neuronal populations in mice.
- Targeting somatic or visceral neurons innervating the oral cavity during the perinatal period.
Main Results:
- Ablation of taste (visceral) neurons prevented taste bud formation.
- Ablation of touch (somatic) neurons did not affect taste bud formation.
- Demonstrated that taste neurons are essential for taste bud development.
Conclusions:
- Taste neurons are absolutely required for the proper formation of taste buds in mammals.
- This finding resolves the debate on nerve dependency in mammalian taste bud development.
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