Penguins lost the taste of flavors:sweet,sourand tasty by cold

FECHA DE PUBLICACIÓN: EP / MADRID Día 17/02/2015 - 14.33h

FUENTE: http://www.abc.es/ciencia/20150217/abci-pinguinos-perdieron-gusto-sabor-201502171420.html

ÁMBITO CIENTÍFICO: Biología

RESUMEN:

The Penguins lost three of the five basic tastes of vertebrates - sweet, sour and tasty food flavor known as umami - more than 20 million years ago and never recovered , according to research by the University of Michigan (USA)

Zhang suspected sensory changes are linked to ancient climate phenomena cooling in Antarctica , where penguins originated. Its main hypothesis , published in Current Biology, is that genes were lost after the cold Antarctic temperatures interfere with the perception of taste. Vertebrates typically have five basic tastes : sweet, sour, salty , bitter and umami . Over the past 15 years , remarkable progress in understanding the molecular basis of taste has opened the door to infer taste abilities through examination of taste receptor genes.
GLOSARIO:  - Unami: vocablo que significa sabroso, es uno de los cinco sabores básicos junto con el dulce, ácido, amargo y salado.                                                                                              -Genomas: conjunto de genes contenidos en los cromosomas, lo que puede interpretarse como la totalidad de la información genética                                                                                              -Pseudògen: Secuencia nucleotida similar a un gen normal pero que no da como resultado un producto funcional, es decir, que no se expresa.                                                                VALORACIÓN:                                              Penguins originated in Antarctica about 60 million years ago , and major groups of penguins were separated from each other about 23 million years ago . The taste loss probably occurred during that period of 37 million years , which included periods of drastic cooling of Antarctica                                                The taste in vertebrates is mediated by taste receptors normally found in taste buds located on the upper surface of the tongue and other parts of the mouth. The human tongue has several thousands of taste buds