New Insights on the Evolution of the Sweet Taste Receptor of Primates Adapted to Harsh Environments

Animals

MohdTajuddin Abdullah¹  Ramlah Zainudin²  Laurence Croft³  NurAida Md Tamrin⁴  Yuzine Esa⁵  MohdNoor Mat Isa⁶  Halimah Alias⁷ 

[1] Academy of Sciences Malaysia, Level 20, West Wing, MATRADE Tower, Jalan Sultan Haji Ahmad Shah, Kuala Lumpur 50480, Malaysia;Animal Resource Science and Management Programme, Faculty of Resource Science and Technology, Universiti Malaysia Sarawak, Kota Samarahan 94300, Sarawak, Malaysia;Centre of Integrative Ecology, School of Life and Environmental Sciences, Deakin University, Geelong 3125, Victoria, Australia;Department of Animal Science, Faculty of Agriculture, Universiti Putra Malaysia, Serdang 43400 UPM, Selangor, Malaysia;Department of Aquaculture, Faculty of Agriculture, Universiti Putra Malaysia, Serdang 43400 UPM, Selangor, Malaysia;Malaysia Genome Institute, National Institutes of Biotechnology Malaysia, Ministry of Science, Technology and Innovation, Jalan Bangi, Kajang 43000, Selangor, Malaysia;Malaysian Genomics Resource Centre, 27-9 Level 9 Boulevard Signature Office Mid Valley City, Kuala Lumpur 59200, Malaysia;

关键词: primate;    phylogenetic;    sweet taste receptor gene;    diet preference;    divergence date;    late Miocene;   

DOI  :  10.3390/ani10122359

来源: DOAJ

【 摘 要 】

Taste perception is an essential function that provides valuable dietary and sensory information, which is crucial for the survival of animals. Studies into the evolution of the sweet taste receptor gene (TAS1R2) are scarce, especially for Bornean endemic primates such as Nasalis larvatus (proboscis monkey), Pongo pygmaeus (Bornean orangutan), and Hylobates muelleri (Muller’s Bornean gibbon). Primates are the perfect taxa to study as they are diverse dietary feeders, comprising specialist folivores, frugivores, gummivores, herbivores, and omnivores. We constructed phylogenetic trees of the TAS1R2 gene for 20 species of anthropoid primates using four different methods (neighbor-joining, maximum parsimony, maximum-likelihood, and Bayesian) and also established the time divergence of the phylogeny. The phylogeny successfully separated the primates into their taxonomic groups as well as by their dietary preferences. Of note, the reviewed time of divergence estimation for the primate speciation pattern in this study was more recent than the previously published estimates. It is believed that this difference may be due to environmental changes, such as food scarcity and climate change, during the late Miocene epoch, which forced primates to change their dietary preferences. These findings provide a starting point for further investigation.

【 授权许可】

Unknown