Affiliation: University of Connecticut, Storrs, CT
Keywords: s. sex-specific traits; n. PNS
Insects have gustatory (taste) sensilla on their wings, labella, and tarsi. These sensilla house gustatory receptor neurons which express gustatory receptors. The Drosophila genome contains two known families of gustatory receptors, the Grs and the IRs. Such receptors can be involved in tasting food or conspecific pheromones. Although the expression of these receptors is best-characterized in the labellum, their expression is not as well defined in the legs. There are different combinations of sensilla in the hindlegs, midlegs, and forelegs due to their different roles in behavior. In particular, the forelegs are used by males during courtship. Thus, gustatory receptor expression is expected to be sexually dimorphic and to vary between the different leg-types. Additionally, other genes may also be differentially expressed by leg-type and gender. We have utilized RNASeq to profile gene expression in male and female forelegs, midlegs, and hindlegs. Differentially expressed genes are identified and categorized by gender and by leg-type. This work can inform future studies on the role of sexually dimorphic genes in Drosophila gustatory behavior.