Ancient protostome origin of chemosensory ionotropic glutamate receptors and the evolution of insect taste and olfaction.

Journal article

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...

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Authors: Croset, V; Rytz, R; Cummins, S; Budd, A; Brawand, D

• Journal: PLoS Genet
• Volume: 6
• Issue: 8
• Pages: e1001064
• Place of publication: United States
• Publication date: 2010-08-01
• DOI: 10.1371/journal.pgen.1001064
• EISSN: 1553-7404
• ISSN: 1553-7390
• Language: English
• Keywords: Receptors, Ionotropic Glutamate; Phylogeny; Insect Proteins; Evolution, Molecular; Taste; Animals; Insects; Multigene Family; Receptors, Odorant; Invertebrates; Drosophila; Molecular Sequence Data; Smell