弗里堡大学Thomas O. Auer团队报道了味觉加工的进化改变了饮食偏好。相关论文于2025年11月26日发表在《自然》杂志上。

在这里，研究组以三个密切相关的物种——黑腹果蝇（Drosophila sechellia, Dsec）、拟果蝇（Drosophila simulans）和黑腹果蝇（Drosophila melanogaster）为主题，研究味觉回路和食物选择的进化。Dsec是寄主专家，只吃一种水果（Morinda citrifolia; noni），而另外两种是多面手，吃各种各样的食物。通过定量喂养实验，课题组研究人员总结了Dsec对noni的偏好，并通过外周味觉神经元的钙成像检测了保留的甜味但改变的苦味敏感性。Noni在Dsec中比在其他两个物种中更强烈地激活苦味感知神经元，这是由于单个感光受体的小缺失。利用腹侧脑容量钙成像技术，课题组研究人员发现感觉运动回路中诺丽糖和蔗糖信号的物种特异性处理反映了饮食偏好的差异，而不是外周生理学。他们的数据表明，食物选择的改变可能不仅仅是由外周受体的变化来解释的，而是由感觉信息转化为进食运动命令的方式的改变来解释的。味觉神经元和腹侧脑的钙成像为果蝇物种食物选择的进化差异提供了见解，支持了感觉运动加工的作用，以及外周受体的变化。

据悉，食物选择是物种形成和新生态位入侵的重要驱动因素。然而，该团队对导致饮食偏好改变的机制知之甚少。

附：英文原文

Title: Evolution of taste processing shifts dietary preference

Author: Bertolini, Enrico, Mnch, Daniel, Pascual, Justine, Sgammeglia, Noemi, Bruzzone, Matteo, Ribeiro, Carlos, Auer, Thomas O.

Issue&Volume: 2025-11-26

Abstract: Food choice is an important driver of speciation and invasion of novel ecological niches. However, we know little about the mechanisms leading to changes in dietary preference. Here we use three closely related species, Drosophila sechellia (Dsec), Drosophila simulans and Drosophila melanogaster, to study taste circuit1 and food choice evolution. Dsec, a host specialist, feeds exclusively on a single fruit (Morinda citrifolia; noni), whereas the other two are generalists living on diverse diets2. Using quantitative feeding assays, we recapitulate the preference for noni in Dsec and detect conserved sweet but altered bitter sensitivity by means of calcium imaging in peripheral taste neurons. Noni activates bitter-sensing neurons more strongly in Dsec than in the other two species owing to a small deletion in a single gustatory receptor. Using volumetric calcium imaging in the ventral brain3, we show that instead of peripheral physiology, species-specific processing of noni and sucrose signals in sensorimotor circuits recapitulates differences in dietary preference. Our data indicate that altered food choice may not be explained by peripheral receptor changes alone but rather by modifications in how sensory information is transformed into feeding motor commands. Calcium imaging of taste neurons and the ventral brain provides insight into evolutionary divergence of food choice in Drosophila species, supporting a role of sensorimotor processing in addition to peripheral receptor changes.

DOI: 10.1038/s41586-025-09766-6

Source: https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-025-09766-6