Requirement for an Otopetrin-like protein for acid taste in Drosophila

Receptors for bitter, sugar, and other tastes have been identified in the fruit fly Drosophila melanogaster, while a broadly tuned receptor for the taste of acid has been elusive. Previous work showed that such a receptor was unlikely to be encoded by a gene within one of the two major families of taste receptors in Drosophila, the “gustatory receptors” and “ionotropic receptors.” Here, to identify the acid taste receptor, we tested the contributions of genes encoding proteins distantly related to the mammalian Otopertrin1 (OTOP1) proton channel that functions as a sour receptor in mice. RNA interference (RNAi) knockdown or mutation by CRISPR/Cas9 of one of the genes, Otopetrin-Like A (OtopLA), but not of the others (OtopLB or OtopLC) severely impaired the behavioral rejection to a sweet solution laced with high levels of HCl or carboxylic acids and greatly reduced acid-induced action potentials measured from taste hairs. An isoform of OtopLA that we isolated from the proboscis was sufficient to restore behavioral sensitivity and acid-induced action potential firing in OtopLA mutant flies. At lower concentrations, HCl was attractive to the flies, and this attraction was abolished in the OtopLA mutant. Cell type–specific rescue experiments showed that OtopLA functions in distinct subsets of gustatory receptor neurons for repulsion and attraction to high and low levels of protons, respectively. This work highlights a functional conservation of a sensory receptor in flies and mammals and shows that the same receptor can function in both appetitive and repulsive behaviors.

Humans possess the ability to distinguish among five basic tastes: sweet, bitter, salt, sour, and umami. Interestingly, there is considerable variety in the ability of other mammals to detect these qualities. For example, cats are missing sweet taste (1) and the bottlenose dolphin only detects salt in food (2). Yet the fruit fly, Drosophila melanogaster, responds to a similar repertoire of tastes as humans. This is all the more remarkable given the very distant evolutionary relatedness and the enormous differences in the anatomy of the fly and mammalian taste organs and points to a conserved function of these taste qualities in assessing food quality.Many of the receptors involved in Drosophila taste have been defined (3, 4). Those that contribute to sweet and bitter tastes have been characterized extensively and are members of the “gustatory receptor” (GR) family (3, 4). GRs are unrelated to the G protein–coupled receptors that function in mammalian sweet and bitter taste (3). Therefore, the abilities of insects and humans to respond to similar repertoires of chemicals such as sweet and bitter tastants have emerged independently.In mice, the taste of acids depends on a proton-selective channel, Otopetrin1 (OTOP1), which is expressed in type III taste receptor cells (5–7). OTOP1 was first identified based on its essential role in the vestibular systems of the mouse and zebrafish (8–11) and was found to encode a family of proton-selective ion channels functionally conserved from worms to humans (5, 9, 12). In sea urchins, an Otop channel functions in calcifying primary mesenchymal cells by promoting the removal of protons generated during the production of CaCO₃ (13). Otop family members are structurally unrelated to other ion channels and are composed of 12 transmembrane segments (12, 14, 15), which assemble as a dimer with no obvious permeation pathway (14, 15). Flies, mice, and human genomes each contain three otop genes, although the fly genes are not direct homologs of the vertebrate genes (9).In Drosophila, low or moderate levels of some organic acids are attractive and promote feeding, while the same acids at higher concentrations repress food consumption (16, 17). This rejection contributes to survival as it discourages the animals from eating very acidic foods in the environment that can decrease lifespan. Two members of the large family of “ionotropic receptors” (IRs; IR25a and IR76b) function in GR neurons (GRNs) in the legs for sensing carboxylic acids and HCl (18). Mutation of either of these IRs disrupts the preference to lay eggs on acid-containing substrates (18). Flies prefer consuming lactic acid over water, and this preference is mildly reduced in Ir25a mutants (19).The receptors required for the gustatory rejection of noxious levels of acids have been largely enigmatic. An exception is IR7a, which is needed to suppress feeding on foods laced with acetic acid (17). IR7a is very narrowly tuned, as it does not impair the rejection of foods with HCl or any other carboxylic acid tested. This receptor acts in a subset of GRNs called B GRNs that are also activated by bitter chemicals and certain other aversive compounds (4, 17).Here, we identified a member of the family of Otop channels that in Drosophila is required for the detection of protons in food. Wild-type flies are strongly repelled by high levels of HCl and mildly attracted to a low level of HCl. We found that these responses depend on the Otopetrin-Like protein (OtopLA), which has a common evolutionarily origin with mammalian OTOP channels. By performing cell type–specific rescue experiments, we found that the strong repulsion and mild attraction to different levels of acids depends on expression of OtopLA in distinct subsets of GRNs.