Pharyngeal mechanosensory neurons control food swallow in Drosophila melanogaster

As the early step of food ingestion, the swallow is under rigorous sensorimotor control. Nevertheless, the mechanisms underlying swallow control at a molecular and circuitry level remain largely unknown. Here, we find that mutation of the mechanotransduction channel genes nompC, Tmc, or piezo impairs the regular pumping rhythm of the cibarium during feeding of the fruit fly Drosophila melanogaster. A group of multi-dendritic mechanosensory neurons, which co-express the three channels, wrap the cibarium and are crucial for coordinating the filling and emptying of the cibarium. Inhibition of them causes difficulty in food emptying in the cibarium, while their activation leads to difficulty in cibarium filling. Synaptic and functional connections are detected between the pharyngeal mechanosensory neurons and the motor circuit that controls swallow. This study elucidates the role of mechanosensation in swallow, and provides insights for a better understanding of the neural basis of food swa..., , , # Dataset for Pharyngeal Mechanosensory Neurons Control Food Swallow in Drosophila melanogaster

[https://doi.org/10.5061/dryad.vdncjsz4q](https://doi.org/10.5061/dryad.vdncjsz4q)

## Description of the data and file structure

This dataset includes raw data of confocal microscopy and calcium imaging, which was used in the figures of [https://doi.org/10.7554/eLife.88614](https://doi.org/10.7554/eLife.88614.2)

Analysis file was built in GraphPad 8, which is associated with behavior experiment and calcium imaging.

Raw data of behavior videos (60fps avi video of *Drosophila* behavior) are 386GB, and we offer access to them in the behavior file description.

Questions about this dataset and further requests should be directed to [[e-mail]](mailto:[e-mail])

### Files and variables

#### File: behavior.zip

**Description:** The folder consists of behavior analysis file built in GraphPad and URL of behavior videos, which are used in the article. I...