Genetic and Molecular Basis of Individual Differences in Human Umami Taste Perception

Shigemura, Noriatsu; Shirosaki, Shinya; Sanematsu, Keisuke; Yoshida, Ryusuke; Ninomiya, Yuzo

doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0006717

Cited by 111 publications

(99 citation statements)

References 30 publications

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“…34 Lugaz et al 119 showed that, like bitter taste, there seems to be a spectrum of ability to taste monosodium L-glutamate, with thresholds differing approximately five-fold between tasters and hypotasters. Shigemura et al 120 identified two SNPs that conferred variation in taste recognition threshold: TASR1-372 and TAS1R3-757 haplotypes. The TASR1 A372T SNP confers increased sensitivity to umami, while the TAS1R3 R757C SNP results in a higher threshold for detection.…”

Section: Genetic Chemosensory Variationmentioning

confidence: 99%

Taste perception, associated hormonal modulation, and nutrient intake

et al. 2015

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It is well known that taste perception influences food intake. After ingestion, gustatory receptors relay sensory signals to the brain, which segregates, evaluates, and distinguishes the stimuli, leading to the experience known as "flavor." It is well accepted that five taste qualities -sweet, salty, bitter, sour, and umami -can be perceived by animals. In this review, the anatomy and physiology of human taste buds, the hormonal modulation of taste function, the importance of genetic chemosensory variation, and the influence of gustatory functioning on macronutrient selection and eating behavior are discussed. Individual genotypic variation results in specific phenotypes of food preference and nutrient intake. Understanding the role of taste in food selection and ingestive behavior is important for expanding our understanding of the factors involved in body weight maintenance and the risk of chronic diseases including obesity, atherosclerosis, cancer, diabetes, liver disease, and hypertension.

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Section: Genetic Chemosensory Variationmentioning

confidence: 99%

Taste perception, associated hormonal modulation, and nutrient intake

et al. 2015

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“…Some people are specifically insensitive to MSG, 97 which is partly caused by alleles of the umami receptor. 98-100 The detection of a genotype/phenotype relationship implies that the trait is at least partially heritable, but we know of no published twin or family studies that estimate the contribution of genes to trait variation.…”

Section: Umami: Savory or Meatymentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Taking a ham and cheese sandwich as an example (Fig. 1), we might imagine that people with sensitive alleles might differentially detect the mild sweetness of onion (TAS1R3), 89 the savory glutamate taste of tomato (TAS1R3), 98,100,170 the bitterness of watercress (TAS2R38), 50 the smell of cheese (OR11H7), 154 or the boar taint odor of ham (OR7D4). 153 We envision that a combination of allelic differences might contribute to the range of liking for this sandwich.…”

Section: Taste Genetics and Food Intakementioning

confidence: 99%

Genetics of Taste and Smell

Reed

Knaapila

2010

Progress in Molecular Biology and Translational Science

218

118

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Eating is dangerous. While food contains nutrients and calories that animals need to produce heat and energy, it may also contain harmful parasites, bacteria, or chemicals. To guide food selection, the senses of taste and smell have evolved to alert us to the bitter taste of poisons and the sour taste and off-putting smell of spoiled foods. These sensory systems help people and animals to eat defensively, and they provide the brake that helps them avoid ingesting foods that are harmful. But choices about which foods to eat are motivated by more than avoiding the bad; they are also motivated by seeking the good, such as fat and sugar. However, just as not everyone is equally capable of sensing toxins in food, not everyone is equally enthusiastic about consuming high-fat, high-sugar foods. Genetic studies in humans and experimental animals strongly suggest that the liking of sugar and fat is influenced by genotype; likewise, the abilities to detect bitterness and the malodors of rotting food are highly variable among individuals. Understanding the exact genes and genetic differences that affect food intake may provide important clues in obesity treatment by allowing caregivers to tailor dietary recommendations to the chemosensory landscape of each person.

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“…The taste word 'umami' connotes the quality best exemplified by monosodium glutamate. Some people cannot taste umami [65,66], perhaps due in part to genetic variants within its receptor, TAS1R1 (taste receptor type 1 member 1), a heterodimer composed of T1R1 and T1R3, two proteins of the TAS1R family (Table 1) [18,[67][68][69][70][71]. In addition to this receptor, glutamate may also be sensed by receptors similar to those that recognize glutamate in the brain [72].…”

Section: Differences In Umami Sour and Salty Taste Detectionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Heritable differences in chemosensory ability among humans

Newcomb

Xia

Reed

2012

Flavour

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The combined senses of taste, smell and the common chemical sense merge to form what we call 'flavor.' People show marked differences in their ability to detect many flavors, and in this paper, we review the role of genetics underlying these differences in perception. Most of the genes identified to date encode receptors responsible for detecting tastes or odorants. We list these genes and describe their characteristics, beginning with the best-studied case, that of differences in phenylthiocarbamide (PTC) detection, encoded by variants of the bitter taste receptor gene TAS2R38. We then outline examples of genes involved in differences in sweet and umami taste, and discuss what is known about other taste qualities, including sour and salty, fat (termed pinguis), calcium, and the 'burn' of peppers. Although the repertoire of receptors involved in taste perception is relatively small, with 25 bitter and only a few sweet and umami receptors, the number of odorant receptors is much larger, with about 400 functional receptors and another 600 potential odorant receptors predicted to be non-functional. Despite this, to date, there are only a few cases of odorant receptor variants that encode differences in the perception of odors: receptors for androstenone (musky), isovaleric acid (cheesy), cis-3-hexen-1-ol (grassy), and the urinary metabolites of asparagus. A genome-wide study also implicates genes other than olfactory receptors for some individual differences in perception. Although there are only a small number of examples reported to date, there may be many more genetic variants in odor and taste genes yet to be discovered.Keywords: Flavor, Genetics, Evolution, Taste, Odor, Receptor, Polymorphism Review Why we differ in taste perceptionHumans use several kinds of information to decide what to eat, and the combination of experience and sensory evaluation helps us to choose whether to consume a particular food. If the sight, smell, and taste of the food are acceptable, and we see others enjoying it, we finish chewing and swallow it. Several senses combine to create the idea of food flavor in the brain. For example, a raw chili pepper has a crisp texture, an odor, a bitter and sour taste, and a chemesthetic 'burn.' Each of these sensory modalities is associated with a particular group of receptors: at least three subtypes of somatosensory receptors (touch, pain, and temperature), human odor receptors, which respond either singly or in combination; [1,2], at least five types of taste receptors (bitter, sour, sweet, salty, and umami (the savory experience associated with monosodium glutamate [3])), and several families of other receptors tuned to the irritating chemicals in foods, especially of herbs and spices (for example, eugenol found in cloves [4] or allicin found in garlic [5]). The information from all these receptors are transmitted to the brain, where it is processed and integrated [6]. Experience is a potent modifier of chemosensory perception, and persistent exposure to an odorant is enough to change...

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Genetic and Molecular Basis of Individual Differences in Human Umami Taste Perception

Cited by 111 publications

References 30 publications

Taste perception, associated hormonal modulation, and nutrient intake

Taste perception, associated hormonal modulation, and nutrient intake

Genetics of Taste and Smell

Heritable differences in chemosensory ability among humans

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