Dataset Information

Molecular evidence for the loss of three basic tastes in penguins.

ABSTRACT: Sensing its biotic and abiotic environmental cues is critical to the survival and reproduction of any organism. Of the five traditionally recognized senses of vertebrates, taste is dedicated to the differentiation between nutritious and harmful foods, triggering either appetitive or rejective behaviors. Vertebrates typically can detect five basic taste qualities: sweet, umami, bitter, sour and salty. Remarkable progress in understanding the molecular basis of taste has opened the door to inferring taste abilities from genetic data. Based on genome and relevant gene sequences, we infer that the sweet, umami, and bitter tastes have been lost in all penguins, an order of aquatic flightless birds originating and still occupying the coldest ecological niche on Earth, the Antarctic.

SUBMITTER: Zhao H

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4333347 | biostudies-literature | 2015 Feb

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

ACCESS DATA

Publications

Molecular evidence for the loss of three basic tastes in penguins.

Zhao Huabin H Li Jianwen J Zhang Jianzhi J

Current biology : CB 20150201 4

Sensing its biotic and abiotic environmental cues is critical to the survival and reproduction of any organism. Of the five traditionally recognized senses of vertebrates, taste is dedicated to the differentiation between nutritious and harmful foods, triggering either appetitive or rejective behaviors. Vertebrates typically can detect five basic taste qualities: sweet, umami, bitter, sour and salty. Remarkable progress in understanding the molecular basis of taste has opened the door to inferri ...[more]

PMID: 25689905

Similar Datasets

Project description:Longitudinal studies focusing on lifetime reproductive success (LRS) have been used to measure individual breeding performance and identify commonalities among successful breeders. By extending the focus to subsequent generations we identify a proportion of high-quality individuals that contribute disproportionately to the population over multiple generations. We used 23 years of yellow-eyed penguin (Megadyptes antipodes) breeding data from one breeding area to identify the proportion of individual birds that raised successful breeders, which in turn raised offspring. We explored which life-history components influenced LRS, as this knowledge would enable conservation resources to be focused on high-performing individuals in this endangered population. From 2,147 birds marked as chicks, 370 (17.2%) survived to adulthood and recruited to their natal location, of which 219 (10.2%) fledged offspring: 124 (56.6%) of the 219 birds produced offspring that recruited as breeders. Only 102 birds (4.8% of 2,147) fledged first-generation offspring that in turn fledged offspring (second-generation offspring, or grand-offspring). We found that ∼25% of the birds that survived to breed had above-average LRS as well as above-average numbers of grand-offspring, and were more likely to have produced first-generation chicks that recruited and also produced above-average numbers of second-generation chicks. Our findings suggest that there is a core of "super-breeders" that contribute disproportionately to the population over successive generations. Lifespan and age-at-first-breeding were correlated with LRS. We suggest that traits of birds relating to longevity, health (e.g., immunocompetence) and fitness could be examined to identify potential links with high LRS and inter-generational fecundity. "Super-breeders" appear to consistently achieve high LRS and long lifespans in a stochastic environment, demonstrating greater resilience in the face of extreme events.

Dataset Information

Molecular evidence for the loss of three basic tastes in penguins.

Publications

Molecular evidence for the loss of three basic tastes in penguins.

Similar Datasets

OmicsDI is part of the ELIXIR infrastructure

Tweets