Heritability and genetic covariation of sensitivity to PROP, SOA, quinine HCl, and caffeine

作者：Hansen Jonathan L^*; Reed Danielle R; Wright Margaret J; Martin Nicholas G; Breslin Paul A S

来源：Chemical Senses, 2006, 31(5): 403-413.

DOI：10.1093/chemse/bjj044

• bitter taste
• propylthiouracil
• quinine hydrochloride
• sucrose octa-acetate
• twin

The perceived bitterness intensity for bitter solutions of propylthiouracil (PROP), sucrose octa-acetate (SOA), quinine HCl and caffeine were examined in a genetically informative sample of 392 females and 313 males (mean age of 17.8 +/- 3.1 years), including 62 monozygotic and 131 dizygotic twin pairs and 237 sib pairs. Broad-sense heritabilities were estimated at 0.72, 0.28, 0.34, and 0.30 for PROP, SOA, quinine, and caffeine, respectively, for perceived intensity measures. Modeling showed 1) a group factor which explained a large amount of the genetic variation in SOA, quinine, and caffeine (22-28% phenotypic variation), 2) a factor responsible for all the genetic variation in PROP (72% phenotypic variation), which only accounted for 1% and 2% of the phenotypic variation in SOA and caffeine, respectively, and 3) a modest specific genetic factor for quinine (12% phenotypic variation). Unique environmental influences for all four compounds were due to a single factor responsible for 7-22% of phenotypic variation. The results suggest that the perception of PROP and the perception of SOA, quinine, and caffeine are influenced by two distinct sets of genes.

• 出版日期2006-6
• 单位河北医科大学