Dopaminergic modulation of sucrose acceptance behavior in Drosophila

Neuron. 2012 Mar 8;73(5):941-50. doi: 10.1016/j.neuron.2011.12.032.

Abstract

For an animal to survive in a constantly changing environment, its behavior must be shaped by the complex milieu of sensory stimuli it detects, its previous experience, and its internal state. Although taste behaviors in the fly are relatively simple, with sugars eliciting acceptance behavior and bitter compounds avoidance, these behaviors are also plastic and are modified by intrinsic and extrinsic cues, such as hunger and sensory stimuli. Here, we show that dopamine modulates a simple taste behavior, proboscis extension to sucrose. Conditional silencing of dopaminergic neurons reduces proboscis extension probability, and increased activation of dopaminergic neurons increases extension to sucrose, but not to bitter compounds or water. One dopaminergic neuron with extensive branching in the primary taste relay, the subesophageal ganglion, triggers proboscis extension, and its activity is altered by satiety state. These studies demonstrate the marked specificity of dopamine signaling and provide a foundation to examine neural mechanisms of feeding modulation in the fly.

Publication types

  • Research Support, N.I.H., Extramural
  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't
  • Video-Audio Media

MeSH terms

  • Action Potentials / drug effects
  • Action Potentials / genetics
  • Animals
  • Animals, Genetically Modified
  • CD8 Antigens / genetics
  • Dopamine / pharmacology*
  • Dopaminergic Neurons / drug effects
  • Dopaminergic Neurons / physiology
  • Dose-Response Relationship, Drug
  • Drosophila
  • Drosophila Proteins / genetics
  • Drosophila Proteins / metabolism
  • Feeding Behavior / physiology*
  • Female
  • Food Deprivation / physiology
  • Food Preferences / physiology*
  • Ganglia, Invertebrate / cytology
  • Green Fluorescent Proteins / genetics
  • Green Fluorescent Proteins / metabolism
  • Ion Channels
  • Potassium Channels, Inwardly Rectifying / genetics
  • Potassium Channels, Inwardly Rectifying / metabolism
  • Probability
  • R-SNARE Proteins / genetics
  • R-SNARE Proteins / metabolism
  • Satiety Response / drug effects
  • Satiety Response / physiology
  • Sucrose / administration & dosage*
  • Sweetening Agents / administration & dosage*
  • TRPA1 Cation Channel
  • TRPC Cation Channels / genetics
  • TRPC Cation Channels / metabolism
  • Transcription Factors / genetics
  • Tyrosine 3-Monooxygenase / metabolism

Substances

  • CD8 Antigens
  • Drosophila Proteins
  • GAL4 protein, Drosophila
  • Ion Channels
  • Kir2.1 channel
  • Potassium Channels, Inwardly Rectifying
  • R-SNARE Proteins
  • Sweetening Agents
  • Syb protein, Drosophila
  • TRPA1 Cation Channel
  • TRPC Cation Channels
  • Transcription Factors
  • TrpA1 protein, Drosophila
  • Green Fluorescent Proteins
  • Sucrose
  • Tyrosine 3-Monooxygenase
  • Dopamine