Temperature Sensation in Drosophila

Animals use thermosensory systems to achieve optimal temperatures for growth and reproduction and to avoid damaging extremes. Thermoregulation is particularly challenging for small animals like the fruit fly Drosophila melanogaster, whose body temperature rapidly changes in response to environmental temperature fluctuation. Recent work has uncovered some of the key molecules mediating fly thermosensation, including the Transient Receptor Potential (TRP) channels TRPA1 and Painless, and the Gustatory Receptor Gr28b, an unanticipated thermosensory regulator normally associated with a different sensory modality. There is also evidence the Drosophila phototransduction cascade may have some role in thermosensory responses. Together, the fly's diverse thermosensory molecules act in an array of functionally distinct thermosensory neurons to drive a suite of complex, and often exceptionally thermosensitive, behaviors.