Unexpected loss of TAS1R1-TAS1R3 umami taste receptor function in carnivorous Lyncodontini mustelids.

ABSTRACT: Lyncodon patagonicus (Patagonian weasel), Galictis cuja (lesser grison), and Galictis vittata (greater grison) are the only extant species of Lyncodontini, a relatively poorly known Neotropical tribe of the mustelid subfamily Ictonychinae within the mammalian order Carnivora. Here, we report molecular evidence indicating that the TAS1R1-TAS1R3 umami (savory) taste receptor lost its function in the Lyncodontini's stem lineage (∼3 to 9.5 million years ago) and is therefore nonfunctional in all crown Lyncodontini. This finding is unexpected and intriguing because all extant Lyncodontini apparently need this receptor (they are terrestrial carnivores with diets high in umami-eliciting compounds, including purine 5'-monophosphate ribonucleotides, the main agonists of TAS1R1-TAS1R3 in carnivorans

SUBMITTER: Wolsan M 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC12596590 | biostudies-literature | 2025 Jan

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature