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毒物に対する味覚の適応進化

Functional Diversity and Evolution of Bitter Taste Receptors in Egg-Laying Mammals

22/6/10

Akihiro Itoigawa, Takashi Hayakawa, Yang Zhou, Adrian D. Manning, Guojie Zhang, Frank Grutzner, Hiroo Imai, Functional Diversity and Evolution of Bitter Taste Receptors in Egg-Laying Mammals, Molecular Biology and Evolution, Volume 39, Issue 6, June 2022, msac107

Coat color is often highly variable within and between animal taxa. Among hundreds of pigmentation-related genes, melanocortin-1 receptor (MC1R) plays key roles in regulating the synthesis of the dark eumelanin and the red–yellow pheomelanin. The six species of macaques that inhabit Sulawesi Island diverged rapidly from their common ancestor, M. nemestrina. Unlike most macaques, Sulawesi macaques commonly have a dark coat color, with divergence in shade and color pattern. To clarify the genetic and evolutionary basis for coat color in Sulawesi macaques, we investigated the MC1R sequences and functional properties, including basal cAMP production and α-MSH-induced activity in vitro. We found fixed non-synonymous substitutions in MC1R in each species. Furthermore, we found that six species-specific variants corresponded with variation in agonist-induced and basal activity of MC1R. Inconsistent with the dark coat color, four substitutions independently caused decreases in the basal activity of MC1R in M. hecki, M. nigra, M. tonkeana, and M. ochreata. Selective analysis suggested MC1R of M. nigra and M. nigrescens underwent purifying selection. Overall, our results suggest that fixed differences in MC1R resulted in different functional characteristics and might contribute to divergence in color among the six Sulawesi macaque species.

Akihiro Itoigawa, Takashi Hayakawa, Yang Zhou, Adrian D. Manning, Guojie Zhang, Frank Grutzner, Hiroo Imai, Functional Diversity and Evolution of Bitter Taste Receptors in Egg-Laying Mammals, Molecular Biology and Evolution, Volume 39, Issue 6, June 2022, msac107

Center for the Evolutionary Origins of Human Behavior, Kyoto Univ.

Inuyama, Aichi 484-8506, Japan

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