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Chemical Senses Advance Access originally published online on October 27, 2006
Chemical Senses 2007 32(1):65-89; doi:10.1093/chemse/bjl030
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© 2006 The Authors
This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution Non-Commercial License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/2.0/uk/) which permits unrestricted non-commercial use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

The Drosophila Larva as a Model for Studying Chemosensation and Chemosensory Learning: A Review

Bertram Gerber1 and Reinhard F. Stocker2

1 Universität Würzburg, Biozentrum, Am Hubland, Lehrstuhl für Genetik und Neurobiologie, D-97074 Würzburg, Germany 2 University of Fribourg, Department of Biology, 10, chemin du Museé, CH-1700 Fribourg, Switzerland

Correspondence to be sent to either author: Bertram Gerber, e-mail: bertram.gerber{at}biozentrum.uni-wuerzburg.de; Reinhard F. Stocker, e-mail: reinhard.stocker{at}unifr.ch


  Abstract

Understanding the relationship between brain and behavior is the fundamental challenge in neuroscience. We focus on chemosensation and chemosensory learning in larval Drosophila and review what is known about its molecular and cellular bases. Detailed analyses suggest that the larval olfactory system, albeit much reduced in cell number, shares the basic architecture, both in terms of receptor gene expression and neuronal circuitry, of its adult counterpart as well as of mammals. With respect to the gustatory system, less is known in particular with respect to processing of gustatory information in the central nervous system, leaving generalizations premature. On the behavioral level, a learning paradigm for the association of odors with food reinforcement has been introduced. Capitalizing on the knowledge of the chemosensory pathways, we review the first steps to reveal the genetic and cellular bases of olfactory learning in larval Drosophila. We argue that the simplicity of the larval chemosensory system, combined with the experimental accessibility of Drosophila on the genetic, electrophysiological, cellular, and behavioral level, makes this system suitable for an integrated understanding of chemosensation and chemosensory learning.

Key words: Drosophila, larva, learning, olfaction, taste


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