| Functional |
"Mammalian sweet taste is primarily mediated by the type 1 taste receptor Tas1r2/Tas1r3, whereas Tas1r1/Tas1r3 act as the principal umami taste receptor." |
10.1073/pnas.1118360109 |
| Mutation Description |
"Unlike in the sea lion and fur seal, Tas1r2 of the Pacific harbor seal (Phocidae family) has a normal ATG start codon; however, it has a nonsense mutation at 32 bp in exon 6 that leads to a premature stop codon (TAA; Fig. 1 A and B and SI Appendix, Fig. S2A). (...) These ORF-disrupting mutations would likely also render the Pacific harbor seal Tas1r2 gene defective." |
10.1073/pnas.1118360109 |
| Timing of Loss |
"The widespread loss of Tas1r2 in species of the order Carnivora, the variance in their lineages, and the independent pseudogenizing mutations among species in distinct families strongly support the hypothesis that the loss of Tas1r2 occurred independently many times during the evolution of the order Carnivora." |
10.1073/pnas.1118360109 |
| Phenotypic |
"It seems most likely that changes in dietary behavior in the process of becoming obligate carnivores may favor the loss of a functional Tas1r2, arguing for convergent evolution of pseudogenized Tas1r2." |
10.1073/pnas.1118360109 |