Publisher Correction: An expression atlas of variant ionotropic glutamate receptors identifies a molecular basis of carbonation sensing.

An amendment to this paper has been published and can be accessed via a link at the top of the paper.

optoPAD, a closed-loop optogenetics system to study the circuit basis of feeding behaviors.

The regulation of feeding plays a key role in determining the fitness of animals through its impact on nutrition. Elucidating the circuit basis of feeding and related behaviors is an important goal in neuroscience. We recently used a system for closed-loop optogenetic manipulation of neurons contingent on the feeding behavior of to dissect the impact of a specific subset of taste neurons on yeast feeding.

An expression atlas of variant ionotropic glutamate receptors identifies a molecular basis of carbonation sensing.

Through analysis of the Drosophila ionotropic receptors (IRs), a family of variant ionotropic glutamate receptors, we reveal that most IRs are expressed in peripheral neuron populations in diverse gustatory organs in larvae and adults. We characterise IR56d, which defines two anatomically-distinct neuron classes in the proboscis: one responds to carbonated solutions and fatty acids while the other represents a subset of sugar- and fatty acid-sensing cells. Mutational analysis indicates that IR56d, together with the broadly-expressed co-receptors IR25a and IR76b, is essential for physiological responses to carbonation and fatty acids, but not sugars.

Internal amino acid state modulates yeast taste neurons to support protein homeostasis in .

To optimize fitness, animals must dynamically match food choices to their current needs. For drosophilids, yeast fulfills most dietary protein and micronutrient requirements. While several yeast metabolites activate known gustatory receptor neurons (GRNs) in , the chemosensory channels mediating yeast feeding remain unknown.

A conserved dedicated olfactory circuit for detecting harmful microbes in Drosophila.

Flies, like all animals, need to find suitable and safe food. Because the principal food source for Drosophila melanogaster is yeast growing on fermenting fruit, flies need to distinguish fruit with safe yeast from yeast covered with toxic microbes. We identify a functionally segregated olfactory circuit in flies that is activated exclusively by geosmin.

Transition from sea to land: olfactory function and constraints in the terrestrial hermit crab Coenobita clypeatus.

The ability to identify chemical cues in the environment is essential to most animals. Apart from marine larval stages, anomuran land hermit crabs (Coenobita) have evolved different degrees of terrestriality, and thus represent an excellent opportunity to investigate adaptations of the olfactory system needed for a successful transition from aquatic to terrestrial life. Although superb processing capacities of the central olfactory system have been indicated in Coenobita and their olfactory system evidently is functional on land, virtually nothing was known about what type of odourants are detected.

A high-throughput behavioral paradigm for Drosophila olfaction - The Flywalk.

How can odor-guided behavior of numerous individual Drosophila be assessed automatically with high temporal resolution? For this purpose we introduce the automatic integrated tracking and odor-delivery system Flywalk. In fifteen aligned small wind tunnels individual flies are exposed to repeated odor pulses, well defined in concentration and timing. The flies' positions are visually tracked, which allows quantification of the odor-evoked walking behavior with high temporal resolution of up to 100 ms.

Just follow your nose: homing by olfactory cues in ants.

How is an ant-equipped with a brain that barely exceeds the size of a pinhead-capable of achieving navigational marvels? Even though evidences suggest that navigation is a multimodal process, ants heavily depend on olfactory cues-of pheromonal and non-pheromonal nature-for foraging and orientation. Recent studies have directed their attention to the efficiency of pheromone trail networks. Advances in neurophysiological techniques make it possible to investigate trail pheromone processing in the ant's brain.

Desert ants benefit from combining visual and olfactory landmarks.

The desert ant, Cataglyphis fortis, uses both visual and olfactory cues to guide its return to the nest. The ants use vision-based path integration for long-distance navigation and memorize the visual and olfactory surrounding of the nest to finally locate the entrance. In the present study we investigated how the visual and the olfactory navigation systems interact.

A novel multicomponent stimulus device for use in olfactory experiments.

Olfactory studies have expanded beyond the study of single compound odor perception to explore the processing of complex mixtures and blends. The spatiotemporal presentation of blend stimuli is a challenging task requiring volatiles with diverse chemical and physical properties to be presented as a unified stimulus. This not only necessitates accurate control of the timing and homogeneity of the odor stream, but requires attention to the concentration of each blend component presented.

Estimation of homing distance in desert ants, Cataglyphis fortis, remains unaffected by disturbance of walking behaviour.

Desert ants, Cataglyphis fortis, use a stride integrator as a distance gauge in their well-studied path integration system (while a skylight compass provides the direction gauge). To further scrutinize the mechanisms of the ant odometer, we tried to disturb the stride integrator by interfering with normal walking behaviour. First, legs that contribute to one of the two leg tripods alternately used in normal walking were selectively amputated.

Smells like home: Desert ants, Cataglyphis fortis, use olfactory landmarks to pinpoint the nest.

Background: Cataglyphis fortis ants forage individually for dead arthropods in the inhospitable salt-pans of Tunisia. Locating the inconspicuous nest after a foraging run of more than 100 meters demands a remarkable orientation capability. As a result of high temperatures and the unpredictable distribution of food, Cataglyphis ants do not lay pheromone trails.