[V-YS-03_04] 優秀発表賞演題(第Ⅴ会場)

[VYS-04E] Bitter Taste Receptor T2R7 and Umami Taste Receptor Subunit T1R1 are Expressed in the Taste Bud Cells of Chickens

^○Yoshida Yuta^1,2, Wang Zhonghou², Tehrani Kayvan F.², Pendleton Emily G.², Tanaka Ryota³, Mortensen Luke J.², Nishimura Shotaro¹, Tabata Shoji¹, Liu Hong-Xiang², Kawabata Fuminori⁴ (1.Kyushu Univ., 2.Univ. of Georgia, 3.Faculty of Agriculture, Kyushu Univ., 4.Hirosaki Univ.)

In the mammalian taste system, the taste receptor type 2 (T2R) family mediates bitter taste, and the taste receptor type 1 (T1R) family mediates sweet and umami tastes (the heterodimer of T1R2/T1R3 forms sweet taste receptor, and the heterodimer of T1R1/T1R3 forms umami taste receptor). In the chicken genome, bitter (T2R1, T2R2, and T2R7) and umami (T1R1 and T1R3) taste receptor genes have been found. However, the localization of these receptors in the taste buds of chickens has not been elucidated. In the present study, we demonstrated that the bitter taste receptor T2R7 and umami taste receptor subunit T1R1 were expressed specifically in the taste buds of chickens, labeled by the molecular marker for chicken taste buds, Vimentin. We detected a broad distribution of T2R7 and T1R1 on the oral epithelial sheets and among three different gustatory tissues of chickens. In addition, 3-D imaging analysis showed a population of taste receptor cells in chicken taste buds. The present results strongly suggested that chickens possess fundamental bitter and umami sensing mechanisms in the taste buds.