LAUSR

Abstract Taste receptors play important roles in perception of L-amino acids and feeding behavior. However, convincing evidence providing causal links between taste receptors and feeding habits is lacking. We generated two mutant lines with t1r1 deletion in zebrafish by CRISPR/Cas9 technology. t1r1 deletion eliminated sensitivity to alanine in zebrafish. Additionally, it did not affect feeding behavior of zebrafish supplied with habitual food such as Artemia salina, while significantly enhanced their acceptance of rejective food such as duckweed and plant-protein source diets. Furthermore, replacement of fish meal with plant protein in diets significantly suppressed transcript levels of orexigenic gene npy and increased mRNA expression levels of anorexigenic gene pomca in wild-type zebrafish but had no effect in t1r1−/− zebrafish. In addition, when fed with fish meal diet, transcript levels of npy and pomca were significantly different in t1r1−/− zebrafish compared with wild-type zebrafish. Overall, these findings suggested that T1R1 was indispensable for amino acid perception and significantly affected the feeding preference and habit in zebrafish.