Human subsistence and signatures of selection on chemosensory genes
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Date
2023-07-03
Authors
Veilleux, Carrie C.
Garrett, Eva C.
Pajic, Petar
Saitou, Marie
Ochieng, Joseph
Dagsaan, Lilia D.
Dominy, Nathaniel J.
Perry, George H.
Gokcumen, Omer
Melin, Amanda D.
Version
Published version
OA Version
Citation
C.C. Veilleux, E.C. Garrett, P. Pajic, M. Saitou, J. Ochieng, L.D. Dagsaan, N.J. Dominy, G.H. Perry, O. Gokcumen, A.D. Melin. 2023. "Human subsistence and signatures of selection on chemosensory genes." Communications Biology, Volume 6, Issue 1, pp.683-. https://doi.org/10.1038/s42003-023-05047-y
Abstract
Chemosensation (olfaction, taste) is essential for detecting and assessing foods, such that dietary shifts elicit evolutionary changes in vertebrate chemosensory genes. The transition from hunting and gathering to agriculture dramatically altered how humans acquire food. Recent genetic and linguistic studies suggest agriculture may have precipitated olfactory degeneration. Here, we explore the effects of subsistence behaviors on olfactory (OR) and taste (TASR) receptor genes among rainforest foragers and neighboring agriculturalists in Africa and Southeast Asia. We analyze 378 functional OR and 26 functional TASR genes in 133 individuals across populations in Uganda (Twa, Sua, BaKiga) and the Philippines (Agta, Mamanwa, Manobo) with differing subsistence histories. We find no evidence of relaxed selection on chemosensory genes in agricultural populations. However, we identify subsistence-related signatures of local adaptation on chemosensory genes within each geographic region. Our results highlight the importance of culture, subsistence economy, and drift in human chemosensory perception.
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© The Author(s) 2023. This article is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License, which permits use, sharing, adaptation, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, as long as you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons licence, and indicate if changes were made. The images or other third party material in this article are included in the article’s Creative Commons licence, unless indicated otherwise in a credit line to the material. If material is not included in the article’s Creative Commons licence and your intended use is not permitted by statutory regulation or exceeds the permitted use, you will need to obtain permission directly from the copyright holder. To view a copy of this licence, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/