- THIS ARTICLE
- Full Text
- Full Text (PDF)
- Data Supplement
-
All Versions of this Article:
genetics.104.037523v1
170/1/313 most recent - Alert me when this article is cited
- Alert me if a correction is posted
- SERVICES
- Email this article to a friend
- Similar articles in this journal
- Similar articles in PubMed
- Alert me to new issues of the journal
- Download to citation manager
- Reprints & Permissions
- CITING ARTICLES
- Citing Articles via HighWire
- Citing Articles via Google Scholar
- GOOGLE SCHOLAR
- Articles by Go, Y.
- Articles by Takahata, N.
- Search for Related Content
- PUBMED
- PubMed Citation
- Articles by Go, Y.
- Articles by Takahata, N.
Originally published as Genetics Published Articles Ahead of Print on March 2, 2005.
Genetics, Vol. 170, 313-326, May 2005, Copyright © 2005
doi:10.1534/genetics.104.037523
Lineage-Specific Loss of Function of Bitter Taste Receptor Genes in Humans and Nonhuman Primates
Yasuhiro Go*,1,
Yoko Satta*,
Osamu Takenaka
,2 and
Naoyuki Takahata*
* Department of Biosystems Science, Graduate University for Advanced Studies (Sokendai), Hayama, Kanagawa 240-0193, Japan
Primate Research Institute, Kyoto University, Inuyama, Aichi 484-8506, Japan
1 Corresponding author: Department of Biosystems Science, Graduate University for Advanced Studies (Sokendai), Hayama, Kanagawa 240-0193, Japan.
E-mail: go_yasuhiro{at}soken.ac.jp
Since the process of becoming dead genes or pseudogenes (pseudogenization) is irreversible and can occur rather rapidly under certain environmental circumstances, it is one plausible determinant for characterizing species specificity. To test this evolutionary hypothesis, we analyzed the tempo and mode of duplication and pseudogenization of bitter taste receptor (T2R) genes in humans as well as in 12 nonhuman primates. The results show that primates have accumulated more pseudogenes than mice after their separation from the common ancestor and that lineage-specific pseudogenization becomes more conspicuous in humans than in nonhuman primates. Although positive selection has operated on some amino acids in extracellular domains, functional constraints against T2R genes are more relaxed in primates than in mice and this trend has culminated in the rapid deterioration of the bitter-tasting capability in humans. Since T2R molecules play an important role in avoiding generally bitter toxic and harmful substances, substantial modification of the T2R gene repertoire is likely to reflect different responses to changes in the environment and to result from species-specific food preference during primate evolution.
This article has been cited by other articles:
 |
|
 |
|
  I. Kaji, S.-i. Karaki, Y. Fukami, M. Terasaki, and A. Kuwahara Secretory effects of a luminal bitter tastant and expressions of bitter taste receptors, T2Rs, in the human and rat large intestine Am J Physiol Gastrointest Liver Physiol, May 1, 2009; 296(5): G971 - G981. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]
|
|
|
|
 |
|
 W. E. Grus and J. Zhang Origin of the Genetic Components of the Vomeronasal System in the Common Ancestor of all Extant Vertebrates Mol. Biol. Evol., February 1, 2009; 26(2): 407 - 419. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]
|
|
|
|
 |
|
 T. Matsuo Rapid Evolution of Two Odorant-Binding Protein Genes, Obp57d and Obp57e, in the Drosophila melanogaster Species Group Genetics, February 1, 2008; 178(2): 1061 - 1072. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]
|
|
|
|
 |
|
 M. Nozawa, Y. Kawahara, and M. Nei From the Cover: Genomic drift and copy number variation of sensory receptor genes in humans PNAS, December 18, 2007; 104(51): 20421 - 20426. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]
|
|
|
|
 |
|
 H. Rompler, C. Staubert, D. Thor, A. Schulz, M. Hofreiter, and T. Schoneberg G Protein-Coupled Time Travel: Evolutionary Aspects of GPCR Research Mol. Interv., February 1, 2007; 7(1): 17 - 25. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]
|
|
|
|
|
|
Y. Go Lineage-Specific Expansions and Contractions of the Bitter Taste Receptor Gene Repertoire in Vertebrates Mol. Biol. Evol., May 1, 2006; 23(5): 964 - 972. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]
|
|
|
|
|
|
S. Wooding Phenylthiocarbamide: A 75-Year Adventure in Genetics and Natural Selection. Genetics, April 1, 2006; 172(4): 2015 - 2023. [Full Text] [PDF]
|
|
|
|
|
|
T. Hayakawa, I. Aki, A. Varki, Y. Satta, and N. Takahata Fixation of the Human-Specific CMP-N-Acetylneuraminic Acid Hydroxylase Pseudogene and Implications of Haplotype Diversity for Human Evolution Genetics, February 1, 2006; 172(2): 1139 - 1146. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]
|
|
|
|
|
|
P. Shi and J. Zhang Contrasting Modes of Evolution Between Vertebrate Sweet/Umami Receptor Genes and Bitter Receptor Genes Mol. Biol. Evol., February 1, 2006; 23(2): 292 - 300. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]
|
|