Taste receptors function as one of the interfaces between internal and external milieus.
Taste receptors for sweet and umami (T1R [taste receptor, type 1]), bitter (T2R [taste …

All characters and trait systems in an organism share a common evolutionary history that
can be estimated using phylogenetic methods. However, differential rates of change and the …

Mammalian sweet taste is primarily mediated by the type 1 taste receptor Tas1r2/Tas1r3,
whereas Tas1r1/Tas1r3 act as the principal umami taste receptor. Bitter taste is mediated by …

Vertebrate Tas2r taste receptors bind to bitter compounds, which are typically poisonous, to
elicit bitter sensation to prevent the ingestion of toxins. Previous studies noted a marked …

Vampire bats are the only mammals that feed exclusively on blood. To uncover genomic
changes associated with this dietary adaptation, we generated a haplotype-resolved …

Although it belongs to the order Carnivora, the giant panda is a vegetarian with 99% of its
diet being bamboo. The draft genome sequence of the giant panda shows that its umami …

Subterranean animals living in perpetual darkness may maintain photoresponse. However,
the evolutionary processes behind the conflict between eye loss and maintenance of the …

Gene duplication is widely believed to facilitate adaptation, but unambiguous evidence for
this hypothesis has been found in only a small number of cases. Although gene duplication …

Nervous systems allow animals to acutely respond and behaviorally adapt to changes and
recurring patterns in their environment at multiple timescales—from milliseconds to years …

Taste receptor genes are functionally important in animals, with a surprising exception in the
bottlenose dolphin, which shows extensive losses of sweet, umami, and bitter taste receptor …