Ancient Protostome Origin of Chemosensory Ionotropic Glutamate Receptors and the Evolution of Insect Taste and Olfaction

Ionotropic glutamate receptors (iGluRs) are a highly conserved family of ligand-gated ion channels present in animals, plants, and bacteria, which are best characterized for their roles in synaptic communication in vertebrate nervous systems. A variant subfamily of iGluRs, the Ionotropic Receptors (IRs), was recently identified as a new class of olfactory receptors in the fruit fly, Drosophila melanogaster, hinting at a broader function of this ion channel family in detection of environmental, as well as intercellular, chemical signals. Here, we investigate the origin and evolution of IRs by comprehensive evolutionary genomics and in situ expression analysis. In marked contrast to the insect-specific Odorant…

• NS
  National Science Foundation
• UD
  U.S. Department of Energy
• WT
  Wellcome Trust
• BI
  Broad Institute
• JG
  Joint Genome Institute
• SN
  Schweizerischer Nationalfonds zur Förderung der Wissenschaftlichen Forschung
• UD
  Université de Lausanne
• BI
  Boehringer Ingelheim Stiftung
• AR
  Australian Research Council