Bitter Taste Sensitivity in Humans and Chimpanzees

Maik Behrens, German Institute of Human Nutrition Potsdam‐Rehbruecke, Nuthetal, Germany
Wolfgang Meyerhof, German Institute of Human Nutrition Potsdam‐Rehbruecke, Nuthetal, Germany

Published online: March 2008

DOI: 10.1002/9780470015902.a0020778

Bitter taste receptors serve an important function during evolution. They are designed to detect toxic plant metabolites before ingestion. With respect to bitter taste receptors the genetic repertoire of animal species is highly diverse reflecting species differences in their metabolic requirements, the variety of habitats, and evolutionary history. By comparing the bitter taste receptor genes of humans with our closest relative, the chimpanzee, we learn about some of the evolutionary forces that shaped the development modern human beings. This review discusses the current knowledge on bitter taste physiology, TAS2R function, and evolutionary conservation of human and chimpanzee TAS2R genes.

Keywords: bitter taste receptor genes; TAS2R; taste

Figure 1. Bitter taste signal transduction casacade. Bitter taste receptors possess seven transmembrane helices (I–VII). After agonist activation the heterotrimeric G protein consisting of G-Gustducin ()/3 or 1 ()/13 () dissociates. The dimeric / subunits activate phospholipase C2 (PLC2), which in turn produces inositoltrisphosphate (IP3). IP3 triggers via the type-III IP3 receptor the release of calcium from intracellular stores leading to the opening of the transient receptor potential channel M5 (TRPM5) resulting in the generation of action potentials.
Figure 2. Family of human and chimpanzee TAS2R genes. The phylogenetic tree shows the relationships among the 36 human and chimpanzee orthologous TAS2R gene nucleotide sequences. For the construction of the phylogentic tree the complementary deoxyribonucleic acid (cDNA) sequences of human and chimpanzee TAS2Rs were aligned using the pileup function of the GCG-program (Genetics Computer Group, Inc.). The 25 functional TAS2Rs are printed in bold. Synonymous names are boxed in grey (1, Go et al., 2005; 2, Shi et al., 2003).
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 Further Reading
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    Behrens M and Meyerhof W (2006) Bitter taste receptors and human bitter taste perception. Cellular and Molecular Life Sciences 63: 1501–1509.
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    Soranzo N, Bufe B, Sabeti PC et al. (2005) Positive selection on a high-sensitivity allele of the human bitter-taste receptor TAS2R16. Current Biology 15: 1257–1265.

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Adaptive Evolution | Protein Evolution | Human Evolution
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Article Title: Bitter Taste Sensitivity in Humans and Chimpanzees
 
How to Cite close
Behrens, Maik, and Meyerhof, Wolfgang(Mar 2008) Bitter Taste Sensitivity in Humans and Chimpanzees. In: eLS. John Wiley & Sons Ltd, Chichester. http://www.els.net [doi: 10.1002/9780470015902.a0020778]