New Insights on the Evolution of the Sweet Taste Receptor of Primates Adapted to Harsh Environments
Taste perception is an essential function that provides valuable dietary and sensory information, which is crucial for the survival of animals. Studies into the evolution of the sweet taste receptor gene (<i>TAS1R2</i>) are scarce, especially for Bornean endemic primates such as <i>...
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MDPI AG
2020-12-01
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| Online Access: | https://www.mdpi.com/2076-2615/10/12/2359 |
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| author | Nur Aida Md Tamrin Ramlah Zainudin Yuzine Esa Halimah Alias Mohd Noor Mat Isa Laurence Croft Mohd Tajuddin Abdullah |
| author_facet | Nur Aida Md Tamrin Ramlah Zainudin Yuzine Esa Halimah Alias Mohd Noor Mat Isa Laurence Croft Mohd Tajuddin Abdullah |
| author_sort | Nur Aida Md Tamrin |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Taste perception is an essential function that provides valuable dietary and sensory information, which is crucial for the survival of animals. Studies into the evolution of the sweet taste receptor gene (<i>TAS1R2</i>) are scarce, especially for Bornean endemic primates such as <i>Nasalis larvatus</i> (proboscis monkey), <i>Pongo pygmaeus</i> (Bornean orangutan), and <i>Hylobates muelleri</i> (Muller’s Bornean gibbon). Primates are the perfect taxa to study as they are diverse dietary feeders, comprising specialist folivores, frugivores, gummivores, herbivores, and omnivores. We constructed phylogenetic trees of the <i>TAS1R2</i> gene for 20 species of anthropoid primates using four different methods (neighbor-joining, maximum parsimony, maximum-likelihood, and Bayesian) and also established the time divergence of the phylogeny. The phylogeny successfully separated the primates into their taxonomic groups as well as by their dietary preferences. Of note, the reviewed time of divergence estimation for the primate speciation pattern in this study was more recent than the previously published estimates. It is believed that this difference may be due to environmental changes, such as food scarcity and climate change, during the late Miocene epoch, which forced primates to change their dietary preferences. These findings provide a starting point for further investigation. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-10T14:12:03Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-be95f0438f464d4b9c8152a3d860ee09 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2076-2615 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-10T14:12:03Z |
| publishDate | 2020-12-01 |
| publisher | MDPI AG |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Animals |
| spelling | doaj.art-be95f0438f464d4b9c8152a3d860ee092023-11-21T00:08:13ZengMDPI AGAnimals2076-26152020-12-011012235910.3390/ani10122359New Insights on the Evolution of the Sweet Taste Receptor of Primates Adapted to Harsh EnvironmentsNur Aida Md Tamrin0Ramlah Zainudin1Yuzine Esa2Halimah Alias3Mohd Noor Mat Isa4Laurence Croft5Mohd Tajuddin Abdullah6Department of Animal Science, Faculty of Agriculture, Universiti Putra Malaysia, Serdang 43400 UPM, Selangor, MalaysiaAnimal Resource Science and Management Programme, Faculty of Resource Science and Technology, Universiti Malaysia Sarawak, Kota Samarahan 94300, Sarawak, MalaysiaDepartment of Aquaculture, Faculty of Agriculture, Universiti Putra Malaysia, Serdang 43400 UPM, Selangor, MalaysiaMalaysian Genomics Resource Centre, 27-9 Level 9 Boulevard Signature Office Mid Valley City, Kuala Lumpur 59200, MalaysiaMalaysia Genome Institute, National Institutes of Biotechnology Malaysia, Ministry of Science, Technology and Innovation, Jalan Bangi, Kajang 43000, Selangor, MalaysiaCentre of Integrative Ecology, School of Life and Environmental Sciences, Deakin University, Geelong 3125, Victoria, AustraliaAcademy of Sciences Malaysia, Level 20, West Wing, MATRADE Tower, Jalan Sultan Haji Ahmad Shah, Kuala Lumpur 50480, MalaysiaTaste perception is an essential function that provides valuable dietary and sensory information, which is crucial for the survival of animals. Studies into the evolution of the sweet taste receptor gene (<i>TAS1R2</i>) are scarce, especially for Bornean endemic primates such as <i>Nasalis larvatus</i> (proboscis monkey), <i>Pongo pygmaeus</i> (Bornean orangutan), and <i>Hylobates muelleri</i> (Muller’s Bornean gibbon). Primates are the perfect taxa to study as they are diverse dietary feeders, comprising specialist folivores, frugivores, gummivores, herbivores, and omnivores. We constructed phylogenetic trees of the <i>TAS1R2</i> gene for 20 species of anthropoid primates using four different methods (neighbor-joining, maximum parsimony, maximum-likelihood, and Bayesian) and also established the time divergence of the phylogeny. The phylogeny successfully separated the primates into their taxonomic groups as well as by their dietary preferences. Of note, the reviewed time of divergence estimation for the primate speciation pattern in this study was more recent than the previously published estimates. It is believed that this difference may be due to environmental changes, such as food scarcity and climate change, during the late Miocene epoch, which forced primates to change their dietary preferences. These findings provide a starting point for further investigation.https://www.mdpi.com/2076-2615/10/12/2359primatephylogeneticsweet taste receptor genediet preferencedivergence datelate Miocene |
| spellingShingle | Nur Aida Md Tamrin Ramlah Zainudin Yuzine Esa Halimah Alias Mohd Noor Mat Isa Laurence Croft Mohd Tajuddin Abdullah New Insights on the Evolution of the Sweet Taste Receptor of Primates Adapted to Harsh Environments Animals primate phylogenetic sweet taste receptor gene diet preference divergence date late Miocene |
| title | New Insights on the Evolution of the Sweet Taste Receptor of Primates Adapted to Harsh Environments |
| title_full | New Insights on the Evolution of the Sweet Taste Receptor of Primates Adapted to Harsh Environments |
| title_fullStr | New Insights on the Evolution of the Sweet Taste Receptor of Primates Adapted to Harsh Environments |
| title_full_unstemmed | New Insights on the Evolution of the Sweet Taste Receptor of Primates Adapted to Harsh Environments |
| title_short | New Insights on the Evolution of the Sweet Taste Receptor of Primates Adapted to Harsh Environments |
| title_sort | new insights on the evolution of the sweet taste receptor of primates adapted to harsh environments |
| topic | primate phylogenetic sweet taste receptor gene diet preference divergence date late Miocene |
| url | https://www.mdpi.com/2076-2615/10/12/2359 |
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