GEPHE SUMMARY
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Gephebase Gene
Entry Status
Published
GepheID
GP00001112
Main curator
Martin
PHENOTYPIC CHANGE
Trait Category
Trait State in Taxon A
Pan troglodytes Taster
Trait State in Taxon B
Pan troglodytes Non taster
Ancestral State
Data not curated
Taxonomic Status
Taxon A
Latin Name
Common Name
chimpanzee
Synonyms
chimpanzee; Chimpansee troglodytes
Rank
species
Lineage
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copterygii; Dipnotetrapodomorpha; Tetrapoda; Amniota; Mammalia; Theria; Eutheria; Boreoeutheria; Euarchontoglires; Primates; Haplorrhini; Simiiformes; Catarrhini; Hominoidea; Hominidae; Homininae; Pan
NCBI Taxonomy ID
is Taxon A an Infraspecies?
Yes
Taxon A Description
Pan troglodytes Taster
Taxon B
Latin Name
Common Name
chimpanzee
Synonyms
chimpanzee; Chimpansee troglodytes
Rank
species
Lineage
Show more ...
copterygii; Dipnotetrapodomorpha; Tetrapoda; Amniota; Mammalia; Theria; Eutheria; Boreoeutheria; Euarchontoglires; Primates; Haplorrhini; Simiiformes; Catarrhini; Hominoidea; Hominidae; Homininae; Pan
NCBI Taxonomy ID
is Taxon B an Infraspecies?
Yes
Taxon B Description
Pan troglodytes Non taster
GENOTYPIC CHANGE
Generic Gene Name
TAS2R38
Synonyms
PTC; T2R38; T2R61; THIOT
String
Sequence Similarities
Belongs to the G-protein coupled receptor T2R family.
GO - Molecular Function
GO:0004930 : G protein-coupled receptor activity
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GO - Biological Process
GO - Cellular Component
GO:0016021 : integral component of membrane
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Presumptive Null
Molecular Type
Aberration Type
SNP Coding Change
Nonsynonymous
Molecular Details of the Mutation
M1R; eliminates start codon; protein initiates at later Met. Protein apparently null for signalling
Experimental Evidence
Taxon A | Taxon B | Position | |
---|---|---|---|
Codon | - | - | - |
Amino-acid | - | - | - |
Authors
Wooding S; Bufe B; Grassi C; Howard MT; Stone AC; Vazquez M; Dunn DM; Meyerhof W; et al.
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Abstract
It was reported over 65 years ago that chimpanzees, like humans, vary in taste sensitivity to the bitter compound phenylthiocarbamide (PTC). This was suggested to be the result of a shared balanced polymorphism, defining the first, and now classic, example of the effects of balancing selection in great apes. In humans, variable PTC sensitivity is largely controlled by the segregation of two common alleles at the TAS2R38 locus, which encode receptor variants with different ligand affinities. Here we show that PTC taste sensitivity in chimpanzees is also controlled by two common alleles of TAS2R38; however, neither of these alleles is shared with humans. Instead, a mutation of the initiation codon results in the use of an alternative downstream start codon and production of a truncated receptor variant that fails to respond to PTC in vitro. Association testing of PTC sensitivity in a cohort of captive chimpanzees confirmed that chimpanzee TAS2R38 genotype accurately predicts taster status in vivo. Therefore, although Fisher et al.'s observations were accurate, their explanation was wrong. Humans and chimpanzees share variable taste sensitivity to bitter compounds mediated by PTC receptor variants, but the molecular basis of this variation has arisen twice, independently, in the two species.
Additional References
RELATED GEPHE
Related Genes
No matches found.
Related Haplotypes
No matches found.
EXTERNAL LINKS
COMMENTS
@BalancingSelection
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