Department of Entomology and W.M. Keck Center for Behavioral Biology, North Carolina State University, Raleigh, NC 27695-7613, USA.
Science. 2013 May 24;340(6135):972-5. doi: 10.1126/science.1234854.
In response to the anthropogenic assault of toxic baits, populations of the German cockroach have rapidly evolved an adaptive behavioral aversion to glucose (a phagostimulant component of baits). We hypothesized that changes in the peripheral gustatory system are responsible for glucose aversion. In both wild-type and glucose-averse (GA) cockroaches, D-fructose and D-glucose stimulated sugar-gustatory receptor neurons (GRNs), whereas the deterrent caffeine stimulated bitter-GRNs. In contrast, in GA cockroaches, D-glucose also stimulated bitter-GRNs and suppressed the responses of sugar-GRNs. Thus, D-glucose is processed as both a phagostimulant and deterrent in GA cockroaches, and this newly acquired peripheral taste sensitivity underlies glucose aversion in multiple GA populations. The rapid emergence of this highly adaptive behavior underscores the plasticity of the sensory system to adapt to rapid environmental change.
为了应对人为投毒的威胁，德国蟑螂种群迅速进化出了一种对葡萄糖（诱饵中的一种味觉刺激成分）的适应性回避行为。我们假设，外围味觉系统的变化是导致葡萄糖回避的原因。在野生型和葡萄糖回避型（GA）蟑螂中，D-果糖和 D-葡萄糖都能刺激糖味味觉受体神经元（GRNs），而有抑制作用的咖啡因则能刺激苦味-GRNs。相比之下，在 GA 蟑螂中，D-葡萄糖也能刺激苦味-GRNs，并抑制糖味-GRNs 的反应。因此，在 GA 蟑螂中，D-葡萄糖既被当作味觉刺激物，也被当作抑制剂，这种在多个 GA 种群中出现的新的外周味觉敏感性是葡萄糖回避的基础。这种高度适应性行为的迅速出现突显了感觉系统对快速环境变化的适应性。
