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Drosophila hygrosensation requires the TRP channels water witch and nanchung

Nature volume 450, pages 294–298 (2007)Cite this article

Abstract

The ability to detect variations in humidity is critical for many animals. Birds, reptiles and insects all show preferences for specific humidities that influence their mating, reproduction and geographic distribution1,2. Because of their large surface area to volume ratio, insects are particularly sensitive to humidity, and its detection can influence their survival3,4,5,6,7. Two types of hygroreceptors exist in insects: one responds to an increase (moist receptor) and the other to a reduction (dry receptor) in humidity4,6,8. Although previous data indicated that mechanosensation might contribute to hygrosensation6,9, the cellular basis of hygrosensation and the genes involved in detecting humidity remain unknown. To understand better the molecular bases of humidity sensing, we investigated several genes encoding channels associated with mechanosensation, thermosensing or water transport. Here we identify two Drosophila melanogaster transient receptor potential channels needed for sensing humidity: CG31284, named by us water witch (wtrw), which is required to detect moist air, and nanchung (nan), which is involved in detecting dry air. Neurons associated with specialized sensory hairs in the third segment of the antenna express these channels, and neurons expressing wtrw and nan project to central nervous system regions associated with mechanosensation. Construction of the hygrosensing system with opposing receptors may allow an organism to very sensitively detect changes in environmental humidity.

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Figure 1: Behavioural preference and expression of wtrw and nan.
Figure 2: Hygrosensing behaviour of promoter- GAL4/UAS-TNT-H , mutant, RNAi and dominant-negative lines.
Figure 3: Electrophysiologic response to dry and moist air.
Figure 4: Central nervous system projection pattern of nompC-GAL4, nan-GAL4 and wtrw-GAL4 driving UAS-GFP.

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Acknowledgements

We thank T. O. Moninger for help with scanning electron microscopy, Y. Ben-Shahar for discussions, and K. Knudtson and the University of Iowa DNA Core Facility for assistance with sequencing, oligonucleotide synthesis and real-time PCR experiments. Supported in part by an NRL grant (C.K.). M.J.W. is an Investigator of the HHMI.

Author Contributions L.L. was responsible for molecular cloning, behavioural tests, extracellular electrophysiology, statistical analysis and preparation of the manuscript. Y.L. performed molecular cloning, transgenic generation, fly genetics and in situ hybridization. R.W. and Q.D. did in vitro wtrw cDNA expression and electrophysiology (data not shown in manuscript). C.Y. and H.H. were responsible for immunohistochemistry of wtrw and nan promoter expression in the brain. C.K. provided nan mutant, promoter and rescue flies. M.J.W. supervised the work and wrote the manuscript.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Departments of Internal Medicine,,

    Lei Liu, Yuhong Li, Runping Wang, Qian Dong & Michael J. Welsh

  2. Departments of Physiology and Biophysics, Howard Hughes Medical Institute, Roy J. and Lucille A. Carver College of Medicine, University of Iowa, Iowa City, Iowa 52242, USA,

    Runping Wang, Qian Dong & Michael J. Welsh

  3. Department of Cell and Structure Biology, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Urbana, Illinois 61801, USA,

    Chong Yin & Huey Hing

  4. Hormone Research Center, School of Biological Sciences and Technology, Chonnam National University, Gwangju 500-757, Korea

    Changsoo Kim

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  1. Lei Liu
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Correspondence to Michael J. Welsh.

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Liu, L., Li, Y., Wang, R. et al. Drosophila hygrosensation requires the TRP channels water witch and nanchung. Nature 450, 294–298 (2007). https://doi.org/10.1038/nature06223

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