Uracil-driven ROS signaling and larval TrpA1-B neuron activation are required for priming the adult Drosophila gustatory response to bacteria.

Authors

Romane Milleville, Gérard Manière, Martine Berthelot-Grosjean, Olivier Lamotte, Yaël Grosjean, Julien Royet, C Léopold Kurz

Published in

PLoS biology. Volume 24. Issue 10. Pages e3004042. Oct 05, 2026. Epub Oct 05, 2026.

Abstract

Animals perceive their immediate environment through their sensory systems. While these systems rely on well-defined neuronal circuits and receptor proteins encoded by the genome, they can also be modulated by internal physiological conditions or exogenous factors. We have previously shown that the presence of certain pathogenic bacteria in the larval gut can alter the specificity of bacterial peptidoglycan recognition in the adults that emerge from these larvae. However, the nature of the bacterial signal and the host cells and molecules involved in receiving and transducing this signal remained unknown. Our results identify uracil as the bacterial metabolite responsible for this priming and demonstrate that the effect is mediated by Duox-dependent production of reactive oxygen species (ROS) in the larval gut. We further show that specific expression of TrpA1 isoforms in a Gr66a-expressing neuron of the larval terminal organ is required for the adult response. Together, these findings reveal uracil as the bacterial cue and the Duo/ROS signaling and TrpA1/Gr66a modules as key mediators linking larval gut microbial signals and host integration to subsequent sensory system modulation in the adult.

PMID:
42832584
Bibliographic data and abstract were imported from PubMed on 06 Oct 2026.

Read full publication at:
Please sign in to see all details.

Stats

1-terrible, 9-excellent. How would you rate this publication? Sign in in to submit your rating.

Post a comment

You need to be signed in to post comments. You can sign in here.

Comments

There are no comments yet.