Scientists discovered that fruit flies use a previously unknown thermal sensor for taste and smell as well as to detect the relatively narrow temperature margins in which they can survive.
Previous studies have established that insects are very sensitive to temperature. High temperatures can overheat them and too low temperatures can freeze them. They need the perfect temperature to reproduce and survive. In a new study conducted by researchers from Brandeis University, the team found a previously unknown thermal sensor that fruit flies use to taste and smell.
These sensors are present in all disease-spreading insects like mosquitoes and house flies. This explains why mosquitoes always bite in places that have the most blood. This is because such parts of the body are the warmest.
"If you can find a mosquito's temperature receptor, you can potentially produce a more effective repellent or trap," Paul Garrity, a professor of biology in the National Center for Behavioral Genomics at Brandeis said in a statement. "The discovery of this new temperature receptor in the fruit fly gives scientists an idea of where to look for similar receptors in the mosquito and in other insects."
Though the family of proteins these sensors belong to (gustatory receptors) has been studied by scientists for a long time now, it has never been linked to thermosensation. Previous studies showed that gustatory receptors allowed insects to smell carbon dioxide and taste sugar and bitter substance like caffeine.
However, this type of gustatory receptor in fruit flies is used to detect heat rather than smell and taste. The new sensor named Gr28b is used by fruit flies to detect higher temperatures and trigger a quick response as to whether the temperature is suitable for the insect or not.
"This research reveals a new way in which animals detect temperature," Garrity concluded. "It's important because heat detection is critical for the behavior of insects that spread disease, kill crops and impact the environment."
