ArticleScientific reports2016
Global diversity in the TAS2R38 bitter taste receptor: revisiting a classic evolutionary PROPosal.
Article in Scientific reports, 2016. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. An erratum has been issued. Cited by 53 papers.
What it found
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The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
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Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
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Who cites it
53 citing papers in PubMed, 119 citations in OpenAlex.
- Single-Cell Transcriptomic Analysis of Salivary Epithelial Cells Reveals Large-Scale Dysregulation in Bitter Taste Dysfunction.International journal of molecular sciences · 2026Article
- Cis-regulatory evolution reveals sensory trade-offs as a genetic basis for temporal niche evolution in tapirs.Science advances · 2026Article
- TAS2R38 taster variants-linked MGAM expression in Alzheimer's disease: a novel target for precision drug repurposing.Frontiers in aging neuroscience · 2026Article
- Sociodemographic and biochemical correlates of self-reported taste dysfunction: an NHANES analysis.Open medicine (Warsaw, Poland) · 2026Article
- Genetic Variants Increasing TAS2R38 Bitter Taste Receptor Sensitivity Are Associated With Lower Postprandial Glycemia.Diabetes · 2025Article
- Chemosensory tobacco product toxicology part 2: toxicological testing, assays, and state of the science.Toxicological sciences : an official journal of the Society of Toxicology · 2025Review
- TAS2R38-Linked MGAM Expression in Alzheimer's Disease: A Novel Target for Precision Drug Repurposing.medRxiv : the preprint server for health sciences · 2025Article
- Worldwide study of the taste of bitter medicines and their modifiers.Chemical senses · 2025Article
- Bitter taste receptors as sensors of gut luminal contents.Nature reviews. Gastroenterology & hepatology · 2025Review
- The Remarkable Diversity of Vertebrate Bitter Taste Receptors: Recent Advances in Genomic and Functional Studies.International journal of molecular sciences · 2024Review
- Reduced Salivary Gustin and Statherin in Long-COVID Cohort with Impaired Bitter Taste.Journal of clinical medicine · 2024Article
- Worldwide study of the taste of bitter medicines and their modifiers.bioRxiv : the preprint server for biology · 2024Article
- Thiazolidinediones are Partially Effective Bitter Blockers.Clinical therapeutics · 2024Article
- The Bittersweet Symphony of COVID-19: Associations betweenLife (Basel, Switzerland) · 2024Article
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- TAS2R38 bitter taste perception in the Koṅkaṇī Sārasvata Brahmin population.Genes & genomics · 2023Article
- Article
- Association between Genetic Variation in theNutrients · 2023Article
- Interkingdom Detection of Bacterial Quorum-Sensing Molecules by Mammalian Taste Receptors.Microorganisms · 2023Review
Corrections and comments
- Erratum issued
Authors and funding
14 authors at 10 institutions in 4 countries.
Funding
Abstract
The ability to taste phenylthiocarbamide (PTC) and 6-n-propylthiouracil (PROP) is a polymorphic trait mediated by the TAS2R38 bitter taste receptor gene. It has long been hypothesized that global genetic diversity at this locus evolved under pervasive pressures from balancing natural selection. However, recent high-resolution population genetic studies of TAS2Rs suggest that demographic events have played a critical role in the evolution of these genes. We here utilized the largest TAS2R38 database yet analyzed, consisting of 5,589 individuals from 105 populations, to examine natural selection, haplotype frequencies and linkage disequilibrium to estimate the effects of both selection and demography on contemporary patterns of variation at this locus. We found signs of an ancient balancing selection acting on this gene but no post Out-Of-Africa departures from neutrality, implying that the current observed patterns of variation can be predominantly explained by demographic, rather than selective events. In addition, we found signatures of ancient selective forces acting on different African TAS2R38 haplotypes. Collectively our results provide evidence for a relaxation of recent selective forces acting on this gene and a revised hypothesis for the origins of the present-day worldwide distribution of TAS2R38 haplotypes.
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Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.