Characterization and its implication of a novel taste receptor detecting nutrients in the honey bee, Apis mellifera

Umami taste perception indicates the presence of amino acids, which are essential nutrients. Although the physiology of umami perception has been described in mammals, how insects detect amino acids remains unknown except in Drosophila melanogaster. We functionally characterized a gustatory receptor responding to L-amino acids in the western honey bee, Apis mellifera. Using a calcium-imaging assay and two-voltage clamp recording, we found that one of the honey bee’s gustatory receptors, AmGr10, functions as a broadly tuned amino acid receptor responding to glutamate, aspartate, asparagine, arginine, lysine, and glutamine, but not to other sweet or bitter compounds. Furthermore, the sensitivity of AmGr10 to these L-amino acids was dramatically enhanced by purine ribonucleotides, like inosine-5′-monophosphate (IMP). Contact sensory hairs in the mouthpart of the honey bee responded strongly to glutamate and aspartate, which house gustatory receptor neurons expressing AmGr10. Interestingly, AmGr10 protein is highly conserved among hymenopterans but not other insects, implying unique functions in eusocial insects.