Premium
Multiple channels of DEET repellency in Drosophila
Author(s) -
Guo Hao,
Kunwar Kishor,
Smith Dean
Publication year - 2020
Publication title -
pest management science
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.296
H-Index - 125
eISSN - 1526-4998
pISSN - 1526-498X
DOI - 10.1002/ps.5592
Subject(s) - deet , insect repellent , metabotropic glutamate receptor , ionotropic effect , receptor , biology , chemistry , microbiology and biotechnology , pharmacology , genetics , toxicology , glutamate receptor , ecology
BACKGROUND N , N ‐Diethyl‐ meta ‐toluamide (DEET) is the prophylactic insect repellent used most widely to inhibit insect bites. Despite its use since 1944, the mechanism of DEET repellency remains controversial. Here, we revisited the role of smell and taste in DEET repellence using Drosophila as a model. RESULTS Analysis of the responses of individual olfactory receptor neuron (ORN) classes to DEET reveals that 11 ORNs are activated and two are inhibited by this compound. Blocking individual ORN classes in the antenna does not block DEET repellence. This argues against the existence of a single ORN mediating DEET repellence in Drosophila . Activation of all ORCO‐expressing neurons using channelrhodopsin favors attraction, not repellence, in behavioral valence. We also demonstrate that gustatory neurons are highly sensitive to DEET. We used RNA interference to screen candidate receptors encoded by gene families involved in the detection of bitter compounds, including 34 gustatory receptors ( Grs ), 14 ionotropic receptors ( Irs ), five pick‐pocket subunits ( PPKs ), three transient receptor potential ion channels ( TrpA , TrpL , Painless ) and one metabotropic glutamate receptors gene ( DmXR ). We saw striking defects in DEET‐mediated oviposition behavior when expression of either Gr32a or Gr33a was inhibited. CONCLUSION Our findings support a multimodal mechanism for DEET detection in fruit flies and indicate a prominent role for taste detection mediating DEET repellence. © 2019 Society of Chemical Industry