# Analysis of a large family of taste receptors

> **NIH NIH R01** · YALE UNIVERSITY · 2021 · $354,565

## Abstract

PROJECT SUMMARY
 The long-term goal of this project is to reveal the molecular logic by which bitter
tastants are detected and encoded. The experimental plan takes advantage of the fruit
fly Drosophila as a model system, which allows incisive molecular genetic analysis of
taste genes and physiological analysis of taste function.
 The project focuses on a large family of Gustatory receptors (Grs), many of
which mediate responses to bitter compounds. The project examines the bitter-sensitive
neuron that expresses the fewest Grs in the major taste organ of the head.
 The first aim will systematically test the functional necessity of each of the Grs
expressed in this neuron. This aim is designed to test a model in which a network of
coexpressed Grs interact with each other both positively and negatively. The analysis
will test the hypothesis that some Grs are “tuning Grs” that bind tastants and that other
Grs are coreceptors.
 The second aim will systematically test the functional sufficiency of each Gr in
the neuron. Using CRISPR technology we will construct an “empty bitter neuron” that
expresses no Grs. We will determine whether individual Grs expressed alone in a bitter
neuron are sufficient to confer taste response. This aim could establish a useful in vivo
expression system for taste receptors.
 The third aim will systematically examine a receptor in combination with others to
identify partners with which it interacts functionally. The aim will test the hypothesis that
there is a combinatorial logic to taste detection, with different combinations of Grs
responding to different tastants. This combinatorial logic could enhance the ability of a
small number of receptors to detect a large number of tastants.
 Diseases carried by insects afflict hundreds of millions of people each year.
These insects detect their human hosts, their food, or their mates largely through their
chemosensory systems. Advances in understanding these chemosensory systems may
lead to new means of manipulating them and of thereby controlling insect vectors of
human disease.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10055745
- **Project number:** 5R01DC011697-18
- **Recipient organization:** YALE UNIVERSITY
- **Principal Investigator:** John R Carlson
- **Activity code:** R01 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2021
- **Award amount:** $354,565
- **Award type:** 5
- **Project period:** 2001-05-01 → 2021-11-30

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10055745

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10055745, Analysis of a large family of taste receptors (5R01DC011697-18). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-23 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10055745. Licensed CC0.

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