Taste Receptor Type 2 Member 16 (TAS2R16)

TAS2R16 encodes a member of a family of candidate taste receptors that are members of the G protein-coupled receptor superfamily. These family members are specifically expressed by taste receptor cells of the tongue and palate epithelia. Each of these apparently intronless genes encodes a 7-transmembrane receptor protein, functioning as a bitter taste receptor. This gene is clustered with another 3 candidate taste receptor genes in chromosome 7 and is genetically linked to loci that influence bitter perception. The amino acid sequence identities between human and mouse T2Rs range from 46 to 67%. The authors determined that a single taste receptor cell expresses a large repertoire of T2Rs, suggesting that each cell may be capable of recognizing multiple tastants.