Genetic Analysis of Chemosensory Traits in Human Twins

Abstract

We explored genetic influences on the perception of taste and smell stimuli. Adult twins rated the chemosensory aspects of water, sucrose, sodium chloride, citric acid, ethanol, quinine hydrochloride, phenylthiocarbamide (PTC), potassium chloride, calcium chloride, cinnamon, androstenone, Galaxolide™, cilantro, and basil. For most traits, individual differences were stable over time and some traits were heritable (h(2) from 0.41 to 0.71). Subjects were genotyped for 44 single nucleotide polymorphisms within and near genes related to taste and smell. The results of these association analyses confirmed previous genotype-phenotype results for PTC, quinine, and androstenone. New associations were detected for ratings of basil and a bitter taste receptor gene, TAS2R60, and between cilantro and variants in three genes (TRPA1, GNAT3, and TAS2R50). The flavor of ethanol was related to variation within an olfactory receptor gene (OR7D4) and a gene encoding a subunit of the epithelial sodium channel (SCNN1D). Our study demonstrates that person-to-person differences in the taste and smell perception of simple foods and drinks are partially accounted for by genetic variation within chemosensory pathways.

Transient Receptor Potential Channels as Drug Targets: From the Science of Basic Research to the Art of Medicine

“…However, the channel is also widely expressed in brain, heart, small intestine, lung (both in fibroblasts and epithelial cells), skeletal muscle, skin (keratinocytes), bladder, prostate, vascular endothelial cells, and pancreas (for a review see . It is also expressed on taste cells, where it associates with the bitter taste receptor TAS2R60 (Knaapila et al, 2012).…”

Genome-wide association analysis on five isolated populations identifies variants of the HLA-DOA gene associated with white wine liking

“…Recently, it has been demonstrated that ethanol flavor perception (but not taste) is associated to variants in the olfactory receptor (OR) OR7D4 gene and to the SCNN1D, a gene encoding a subunit of the salt taste receptor. 20 Moreover, Mc Rae et al have demonstrated that a non-synonymous variant of OR2J3, an OR gene, impairs the ability to detect cis-3-hexen-1-ol, a key component in many different foods including wine. 21 Finally, we conducted a study on numerous taste-related genes, which allowed us to associate white wine and vodka liking to variations on the TAS1R2 gene in Central Asia populations, suggesting a general role in ethanol perception for this sweet receptor gene.…”

Human bitter perception correlates with bitter receptor messenger RNA expression in taste cells

“…To detect these agents, humans have a large and diverse family of taste receptors (named T2Rs), comprising 25 different bitter receptors with genes clustered primarily on chromosomes 7 and 12 (2,3). The sequences, and thus functions, of T2Rs vary across individuals (4). Both cell-based assays and psychophysical studies have shown that single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) 4 in the genes that code for bitter receptors (TAS2Rs) result in different responses to bitter stimuli, such that individuals with one form of a gene can perceive a stimulus as intensely bitter whereas individuals with another form may not perceive its bitterness at all (5)(6)(7)(8)(9)(10).…”