How fruit flies detect sweet foods
Tuesday, January 14, 2014 - 12:01
in Biology & Nature
Using the common fruit fly, researchers have performed a study that describes just how the fly's taste receptors detect sweet compounds. Even though these taste receptors were discovered more than a decade ago, how they recognize diverse chemicals remained an enigma and an unmet challenge -- until now. Understanding the mechanisms by which the fly tastes and ingests sweet substances may offer tools to control insect feeding, the researchers say.