Variation in ligand responses of the bitter taste receptors TAS2R1 and TAS2R4 among New World monkeys

BMC Evolutionary Biology

Research Article

Takumi Misaka¹  Yoshiro Ishimaru¹  Shoji Kawamura²  Masahiro Otoh²  Kodama Sakurai²  Amanda D. Melin³  Nami Suzuki-Hashido⁴  Hiroo Imai⁴  Kei Tsutsui⁴  Takashi Hayakawa⁵  Filippo Aureli⁶ 

[1] Department of Applied Biological Chemistry, Graduate School of Agricultural and Life Sciences, The University of Tokyo, Tokyo, Japan;Department of Integrated Biosciences, Graduate School of Frontier Sciences, The University of Tokyo, Kashiwa, Japan;Departments of Anthropology & Archaeology and Medical Genetics, University of Calgary, Calgary, Canada;Primate Research Institute, Kyoto University, Inuyama, Japan;Primate Research Institute, Kyoto University, Inuyama, Japan;Japan Monkey Centre, Inuyama, Japan;Research Centre in Evolutionary Anthropology and Palaeoecology, Liverpool John Moores University, Liverpool, UK;Instituto de Neuroetologia, Universidad Veracruzana, Xalapa, Mexico;

关键词: Bitter taste receptor;    TAS2R;    G protein-coupled receptor;    New World monkey;    Interspecific functional variation;    Molecular evolution;   

DOI  :  10.1186/s12862-016-0783-0

 received in 2016-07-04, accepted in 2016-09-30,  发布年份 2016

来源: Springer

【 摘 要 】

BackgroundNew World monkeys (NWMs) are unique in that they exhibit remarkable interspecific variation in color vision and feeding behavior, making them an excellent model for studying sensory ecology. However, it is largely unknown whether non-visual senses co-vary with feeding ecology, especially gustation, which is expected to be indispensable in food selection. Bitter taste, which is mediated by bitter taste receptors (TAS2Rs) in the tongue, helps organisms avoid ingesting potentially toxic substances in food. In this study, we compared the ligand sensitivities of the TAS2Rs of five species of NWMs by heterologous expression in HEK293T cells and calcium imaging.ResultsWe found that TAS2R1 and TAS2R4 orthologs differ in sensitivity among the NWM species for colchicine and camphor, respectively. We then reconstructed the ancestral receptors of NWM TAS2R1 and TAS2R4, measured the evolutionary shift in ligand sensitivity, and identified the amino acid replacement at residue 62 as responsible for the high sensitivity of marmoset TAS2R4 to colchicine.ConclusionsOur results provide a basis for understanding the differences in feeding ecology among NWMs with respect to bitter taste.

【 授权许可】

CC BY   
© The Author(s). 2016