title: Identification of regions associated with variation in sensitivity to food-related odors in the human genome.
abstract: Humans vary in their ability to smell numerous odors [1-3], including those associated with food [4-6]. Odor sensitivity is heritable [7-11], with examples linking genetic variation for sensitivity to specific odors typically located near olfactory receptor (OR) genes [12-16]. However, with thousands of aromas and few deorphaned ORs [17, 18], there has been little progress toward linking variation at OR loci to odor sensitivity [19, 20]. We hypothesized that OR genes contain the variation that explains much of the differences in sensitivity for odors, paralleling the genetics of taste [21, 22], which affect the flavor experience of foods [23-25]. We employed a genome-wide association approach for ten food-related odors and identified genetic associations to sensitivity for 2-heptanone (p = 5.1 × 10(-8)), isobutyraldehyde (p = 6.4 × 10(-10)), β-damascenone (p = 1.6 × 10(-7)), and β-ionone (p = 1.4 × 10(-31)). Each locus is located in/near distinct clusters of OR genes. These findings increase the number of olfactory sensitivity loci to nine and demonstrate the importance of OR-associated variation in sensory acuity for food-related odors. Analysis of genotype frequencies across human populations implies that variation in sensitivity for these odors is widespread. Furthermore, each participant possessed one of many possible combinations of sensitivities for these odors, supporting the notion that everyone experiences their own unique "flavor world."
authors.affiliation: New Zealand Institute for Plant and Food Research, Auckland 1025, New Zealand.
authors.forename: Jeremy F
authors.initials: JF
authors.lastname: McRae
authors.forename: Sara R
authors.initials: SR
authors.lastname: Jaeger
authors.forename: Christina M
authors.initials: CM
authors.lastname: Bava
authors.forename: Michelle K
authors.initials: MK
authors.lastname: Beresford
authors.forename: Denise
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Hunter
authors.forename: Yilin
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Jia
authors.forename: Sok Leang
authors.initials: SL
authors.lastname: Chheang
authors.forename: David
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Jin
authors.forename: Mei
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Peng
authors.forename: Joanna C
authors.initials: JC
authors.lastname: Gamble
authors.forename: Kelly R
authors.initials: KR
authors.lastname: Atkinson
authors.forename: Lauren G
authors.initials: LG
authors.lastname: Axten
authors.forename: Amy G
authors.initials: AG
authors.lastname: Paisley
authors.forename: Liam
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Williams
authors.forename: Leah
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Tooman
authors.forename: Benedicte
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Pineau
authors.forename: Simon A
authors.initials: SA
authors.lastname: Rouse
authors.forename: Richard D
authors.initials: RD
authors.lastname: Newcomb
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D005260:Female; D005502:Food; D014644:Genetic Variation; D055106:Genome-Wide Association Study; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009812:Odorants / Q000032:analysis*; D018035:Receptors, Odorant / Q000235:genetics* / Q000378:metabolism; D012903:Smell; D055815:Young Adult
chemical_list: D018035:Receptors, Odorant