title: Variation in ligand responses of the bitter taste receptors TAS2R1 and TAS2R4 among New World monkeys.
abstract: New 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.
  
  
  
  We 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.
  
  
  
  Our results provide a basis for understanding the differences in feeding ecology among NWMs with respect to bitter taste.
authors.affiliation: Primate Research Institute, Kyoto University, Inuyama, Japan.
authors.forename: Kei
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Tsutsui
authors.affiliation: Department of Integrated Biosciences, Graduate School of Frontier Sciences, The University of Tokyo, Kashiwa, Japan.
authors.forename: Masahiro
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Otoh
authors.affiliation: Department of Integrated Biosciences, Graduate School of Frontier Sciences, The University of Tokyo, Kashiwa, Japan.
authors.forename: Kodama
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Sakurai
authors.affiliation: Primate Research Institute, Kyoto University, Inuyama, Japan.
authors.forename: Nami
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Suzuki-Hashido
authors.affiliation: Primate Research Institute, Kyoto University, Inuyama, Japan.|Japan Monkey Centre, Inuyama, Japan.
authors.forename: Takashi
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Hayakawa
authors.affiliation: Department of Applied Biological Chemistry, Graduate School of Agricultural and Life Sciences, The University of Tokyo, Tokyo, Japan.
authors.forename: Takumi
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Misaka
authors.affiliation: Department of Applied Biological Chemistry, Graduate School of Agricultural and Life Sciences, The University of Tokyo, Tokyo, Japan.
authors.forename: Yoshiro
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Ishimaru
authors.affiliation: Research Centre in Evolutionary Anthropology and Palaeoecology, Liverpool John Moores University, Liverpool, UK.|Instituto de Neuroetologia, Universidad Veracruzana, Xalapa, Mexico.
authors.forename: Filippo
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Aureli
authors.affiliation: Departments of Anthropology & Archaeology and Medical Genetics, University of Calgary, Calgary, Canada.
authors.forename: Amanda D
authors.initials: AD
authors.lastname: Melin
authors.affiliation: Department of Integrated Biosciences, Graduate School of Frontier Sciences, The University of Tokyo, Kashiwa, Japan. kawamura@k.u-tokyo.ac.jp.
authors.forename: Shoji
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Kawamura
authors.affiliation: Primate Research Institute, Kyoto University, Inuyama, Japan. imai@pri.kyoto-u.ac.jp.
authors.forename: Hiroo
authors.identifier: 0000-0003-0729-0322
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Imai
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D019143:Evolution, Molecular; D057809:HEK293 Cells; D006801:Humans; D010802:Phylogeny; D051078:Platyrrhini / Q000145:classification / Q000502:physiology*; D020641:Polymorphism, Single Nucleotide; D043562:Receptors, G-Protein-Coupled / Q000737:chemistry / Q000502:physiology*; D013045:Species Specificity; D013649:Taste
chemical_list: D043562:Receptors, G-Protein-Coupled
keywords: Bitter taste receptor; G protein-coupled receptor; Interspecific functional variation; Molecular evolution; New World monkey; TAS2R