Rapid expansion and specialization of the TAS2R bitter taste receptor family in amphibians.
TAS2Rs are a family of G protein-coupled receptors that function as bitter taste receptors in vertebrates. Mammalian TAS2Rs have historically garnered the most attention, leading to our understanding of their roles in taste perception relevant to human physiology and behaviors. However, the evolutio...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Public Library of Science (PLoS)
2025-01-01
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| Series: | PLoS Genetics |
| Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pgen.1011533 |
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| author | Kathleen W Higgins Akihiro Itoigawa Yasuka Toda Daniel Winston Bellott Rachel Anderson Roberto Márquez Jing-Ke Weng |
| author_facet | Kathleen W Higgins Akihiro Itoigawa Yasuka Toda Daniel Winston Bellott Rachel Anderson Roberto Márquez Jing-Ke Weng |
| author_sort | Kathleen W Higgins |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | TAS2Rs are a family of G protein-coupled receptors that function as bitter taste receptors in vertebrates. Mammalian TAS2Rs have historically garnered the most attention, leading to our understanding of their roles in taste perception relevant to human physiology and behaviors. However, the evolution and functional implications of TAS2Rs in other vertebrate lineages remain less explored. Here, we identify 9,291 TAS2Rs from 661 vertebrate genomes. Large-scale phylogenomic analyses reveal that frogs and salamanders contain unusually high TAS2R gene content, in stark contrast to other vertebrate lineages. In most species, TAS2R genes are found in clusters; compared to other vertebrates, amphibians have additional clusters and more genes per cluster. We find that vertebrate TAS2Rs have few one-to-one orthologs between closely related species, although total TAS2R count is stable in most lineages. Interestingly, TAS2R count is proportional to the receptors expressed solely in extra-oral tissues. In vitro receptor activity assays uncover that many amphibian TAS2Rs function as tissue-specific chemosensors to detect ecologically important xenobiotics. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-0fad0d88804d46c1944afa10b07cd2ba |
| institution | Kabale University |
| issn | 1553-7390 1553-7404 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2025-01-01 |
| publisher | Public Library of Science (PLoS) |
| record_format | Article |
| series | PLoS Genetics |
| spelling | doaj-art-0fad0d88804d46c1944afa10b07cd2ba2025-02-12T05:30:47ZengPublic Library of Science (PLoS)PLoS Genetics1553-73901553-74042025-01-01211e101153310.1371/journal.pgen.1011533Rapid expansion and specialization of the TAS2R bitter taste receptor family in amphibians.Kathleen W HigginsAkihiro ItoigawaYasuka TodaDaniel Winston BellottRachel AndersonRoberto MárquezJing-Ke WengTAS2Rs are a family of G protein-coupled receptors that function as bitter taste receptors in vertebrates. Mammalian TAS2Rs have historically garnered the most attention, leading to our understanding of their roles in taste perception relevant to human physiology and behaviors. However, the evolution and functional implications of TAS2Rs in other vertebrate lineages remain less explored. Here, we identify 9,291 TAS2Rs from 661 vertebrate genomes. Large-scale phylogenomic analyses reveal that frogs and salamanders contain unusually high TAS2R gene content, in stark contrast to other vertebrate lineages. In most species, TAS2R genes are found in clusters; compared to other vertebrates, amphibians have additional clusters and more genes per cluster. We find that vertebrate TAS2Rs have few one-to-one orthologs between closely related species, although total TAS2R count is stable in most lineages. Interestingly, TAS2R count is proportional to the receptors expressed solely in extra-oral tissues. In vitro receptor activity assays uncover that many amphibian TAS2Rs function as tissue-specific chemosensors to detect ecologically important xenobiotics.https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pgen.1011533 |
| spellingShingle | Kathleen W Higgins Akihiro Itoigawa Yasuka Toda Daniel Winston Bellott Rachel Anderson Roberto Márquez Jing-Ke Weng Rapid expansion and specialization of the TAS2R bitter taste receptor family in amphibians. PLoS Genetics |
| title | Rapid expansion and specialization of the TAS2R bitter taste receptor family in amphibians. |
| title_full | Rapid expansion and specialization of the TAS2R bitter taste receptor family in amphibians. |
| title_fullStr | Rapid expansion and specialization of the TAS2R bitter taste receptor family in amphibians. |
| title_full_unstemmed | Rapid expansion and specialization of the TAS2R bitter taste receptor family in amphibians. |
| title_short | Rapid expansion and specialization of the TAS2R bitter taste receptor family in amphibians. |
| title_sort | rapid expansion and specialization of the tas2r bitter taste receptor family in amphibians |
| url | https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pgen.1011533 |
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