10.5061/DRYAD.XKSN02VFZ
Toda, Yasuka
Meiji University
Ko, Meng-Ching
Max Planck Institute for Ornithology
Liang, Qiaoyi
Max Planck Institute for Ornithology
Miller, Eliot
Cornell University
Rico-Guevara, Alejandro
University of Washington
Nakagita, Tomoya
Ehime University
Sakakibara, Ayano
Gifu University
Uemura, Kana
Gifu University
Sackton, Timothy
Harvard University
Hayakawa, Takashi
Hokkaido University
Sin, Simon Yung Wa
University of Hong Kong
Ishimaru, Yoshiro
Meiji University
Misaka, Takumi
University of Tokyo
Oteiza, Pablo
Max Planck Institute for Ornithology
Crall, James
University of Wisconsin–Madison
Edwards, Scott
Harvard University
Matsumura, Shuichi
Gifu University
Baldwin, Maude
Max Planck Institute for Ornithology
Data from: Early origin of sweet perception in the songbird radiation
Dryad
dataset
2021
Japan Society for the Promotion of Science
https://ror.org/00hhkn466
18K14427
Max Planck Society
https://ror.org/01hhn8329
2021-07-09T00:00:00Z
2021-07-09T00:00:00Z
en
https://doi.org/10.1126/science.abf6505
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CC0 1.0 Universal (CC0 1.0) Public Domain Dedication
Early events in the evolutionary history of a clade can shape the sensory
systems of descendant lineages. Although the avian ancestor may not have
had a sweet receptor, the widespread incidence of nectar-feeding birds
suggests multiple acquisitions of sugar detection. In this study, we
identify a single early sensory shift of the umami receptor (the T1R1-T1R3
heterodimer) that conferred sweet-sensing abilities in songbirds, a large
radiation containing nearly half of all living birds. We demonstrate sugar
responses across species with diverse diets, uncover critical sites
underlying carbohydrate detection, and identify the molecular basis of
sensory convergence between songbirds and nectar-specialist hummingbirds.
This early shift shaped the sensory biology of an entire radiation,
emphasizing the role of contingency and providing an example of the
genetic basis of convergence in avian evolution.