How is the peripheral taste system wired?

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Wiring between bitter/sweet TRCs and their partner neurons are established by distinct semaphorins (Sema3A for bitter, Sema7A for sweet TRCs). Targeted mis-expression of these connectivity molecules in other TRCs produced animals in which bitter taste neurons now responded to both sweet and bitter tastants, sweet neurons to responded to bitter and sweet, or sweet neurons to sour and sweet. We plan to expand on these findings and decipher the wiring code of the taste system in the periphery.