Independent evolution of bitter-taste sensitivity in humans and chimpanzees

Stephen Wooding (), Bernd Bufe, Christina Grassi, Michael T. Howard, Anne C. Stone, Maribel Vazquez, Diane M. Dunn, Wolfgang Meyerhof, Robert B. Weiss and Michael J. Bamshad ()
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Stephen Wooding: University of Utah
Bernd Bufe: German Institute of Human Nutrition Potsdam-Rehbruecke
Christina Grassi: Southwest Foundation for Biomedical Research
Michael T. Howard: University of Utah
Anne C. Stone: Arizona State University
Maribel Vazquez: Southwest Foundation for Biomedical Research
Diane M. Dunn: University of Utah
Wolfgang Meyerhof: German Institute of Human Nutrition Potsdam-Rehbruecke
Robert B. Weiss: University of Utah
Michael J. Bamshad: University of Utah

Nature, 2006, vol. 440, issue 7086, 930-934

Abstract: Change for the bitter The ability to sense bitter taste is vital for detecting toxins in food. Phenylthiocarbamide (PTC) is unusual in that to us it tastes either very bitter, or almost tasteless, depending on an individual's genetics. In a classic Nature paper in 1939, R. A. Foster, E. B. Ford and J. S. Huxley showed that chimpanzees also have variable PTC sensitivity, which was thought to reflect a shared ancient genetic polymorphism maintained by natural selection. Now that the TAS2R38 locus responsible for human PTC sensitivity has been identified, Wooding et al. have revisited the comparison. TAS2R38 is also involved in chimpanzees but, surprisingly, the mutations responsible for the polymorphism differ in the two species. ‘Non-taster’ alleles seem to have evolved at least twice, independently, during hominid evolution. The cover photo by D. J. Cox was taken in Chattanooga Zoo, Tennessee, in March 2003; the chimp is gathering as much fruit as he can carry.

Date: 2006
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DOI: 10.1038/nature04655

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