May play a role in the specification of the sugar-sensitive adult gustatory neuron and affect the response to sugar and salt. Regulated by POXN. Expressed in neuronal and glial precursors during differentiation. In the peripheral nervous system, expression is exclusively in one of the neurons that innervate each larval chemosensory organ. Expressed at a late stage in the development of one type of adult chemosensory organ, the gustatory bristles of the leg, wing and proboscis. Expressed very early in the development of a second type of chemosensory receptors, the olfactory organs of the antenna. Expressed in embryos, expression continues to the final stages of neurogenesis.