Department Genetics of Learning and Memory, Leibniz Institute for Neurobiology (LIN), Brenneckestrasse 6, 39118 Magdeburg, Germany.
Department Genetics of Learning and Memory, Leibniz Institute for Neurobiology (LIN), Brenneckestrasse 6, 39118 Magdeburg, Germany.
Curr Opin Insect Sci. 2019 Dec;36:39-44. doi: 10.1016/j.cois.2019.07.007. Epub 2019 Jul 26.
Finding and feeding on appropriate food are crucial for all animals. Carbohydrates and amino acids are both essential nutrients, albeit with distinct roles: the former are the main energy source whereas the latter are the building blocks of proteins and are used as neurotransmitters. Despite their crucial role, neither the sensing nor the neuronal processing of amino acids is well understood. Studies in Drosophila melanogaster have only recently gained momentum in shedding new light on the molecular and neuronal mechanisms of peripheral and internal amino acid sensing, as well as the organization of amino acid feeding behaviour. Furthermore, amino acids have been shown to act as rewards in associative learning. Focusing on recent studies in Drosophila, we summarize what is known so far about the perception of, and the behavioural responses to, amino acids in insects, and try to identify key questions for future research.
寻找和摄取合适的食物对所有动物来说都是至关重要的。碳水化合物和氨基酸都是必需营养素，尽管它们的作用不同：前者是主要的能量来源，而后者是蛋白质的组成部分，并被用作神经递质。尽管它们的作用至关重要，但人们对氨基酸的感知和神经元处理都了解甚少。在果蝇中进行的研究最近才取得了进展，为我们揭示了外周和内部氨基酸感知的分子和神经元机制，以及氨基酸摄食行为的组织方式。此外，氨基酸已被证明在联想学习中起奖励作用。本文聚焦于果蝇的最新研究，总结了目前我们对昆虫感知和对氨基酸的行为反应的了解，并试图确定未来研究的关键问题。
