Tag Archive for 'Taste receptor'

Alkaliphile is a new taste receptor dedicated to sensing the alkaline pH of food. Image credit: Yali Zhang, Monell Chemical Senses Center.

Scientists Identify Taste Receptor for Alkaline pH

Mar 20, 2023 by News Staff

Monell Chemical Senses Center researcher Yali Zhang and colleagues identified a previously unknown chloride ion channel, which they named alkaliphile (Alka),...

The western yellow wagtail (Motacilla flava), a small passerine bird in the family Motacillidae. Image credit: Sci-News.com.

Songbirds Can Taste Sugar, Ornithologists Say

Jul 9, 2021 by News Staff

Seeing a bird eat nectar from a flower is a common sight in our world. The ability to detect sugars, however, is not ancestral in the bird lineage, where...

Colorized scanning electron micrograph of an apoptotic cell (blue) infected with SARS-COV-2 virus particles (red), isolated from a patient sample. Image credit: NIAID.

Loss of Smell and Taste Reported as Early Symptoms of COVID-19

Mar 31, 2020 by The Conversation

Symptoms of COVID-19, the respiratory disease caused by the SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus, typically include a dry cough, fever and shortness of breath. But evidence...

Researchers Find Odor Receptors on Human Tongue

Apr 24, 2019 by News Staff

Functional olfactory receptors — the sensors that detect odors in the nose — are also present in taste cells found on the human tongue, according...

The receptors required for the gustatory responses to sour compounds have been elusive. Rimal et al discover a Drosophila taste receptor, IR7a, which is required for rejecting a sour chemical. Surprisingly, IR7a is narrowly tuned to acetic acid, suggesting that carboxylic acids are detected by a repertoire of receptors. Image credit: Rimal et al, doi: 10.1016/j.celrep.2019.01.042.

Scientists Identify Sour Taste Receptor in Fruit Flies

Feb 6, 2019 by News Staff

Sour taste allows for the detection of hydrogen ions and organic acids. It is one of the five basic tastes and, along with other chemical and textural...

Tanycyte cells reacting to a puff of the amino acid lysine. Scale bar - 20 μm. Image credit: Nicholas Dale / Greta Lazutkaite.

Researchers Identify Brain Cells that Control Our Appetite

Sep 29, 2017 by News Staff

Tanycytes — cells found in part of the brain that controls energy levels — detect two key amino acids in food and tell the brain directly that...

The caffeine we habitually consume in coffee can inhibit the perception of sweet taste. Image credit: Felix Broennimann.

Caffeine Alters Perception of Sweet Taste, New Study Says

Aug 25, 2017 by News Staff

According to a new study published in the Journal of Food Science, caffeine tempers taste buds temporarily, making food and drink seem less sweet. The...

Male Pallas’s cat (Otocolobus manul) licking his nose. Image credit: Emmanuel Keller / CC BY-ND 2.0.

New Study Explains Why Cats Such Picky Eaters

Jun 3, 2015 by News Staff

According to a new study published online in the journal BMC Neuroscience, taste receptors of felines respond in a unique way to bitter compounds compared...