AUTHOR=Ferreira Ana M. , Marques Andreia T. , Fontanesi Luca , Thulin Carl-Gustaf , Sales-Baptista Elvira , Araújo Susana S. , Almeida André M. 

TITLE=Identification of a Bitter-Taste Receptor Gene Repertoire in Different Lagomorphs Species

JOURNAL=Frontiers in Genetics

VOLUME=7

YEAR=2016

URL=https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/genetics/articles/10.3389/fgene.2016.00055

DOI=10.3389/fgene.2016.00055

ISSN=1664-8021

ABSTRACT=<p>The repertoires of bitter-taste receptor (T2R) gene have been described for several animal species, but these data are still scarce for Lagomorphs. The aim of the present work is to identify potential repertoires of T2R in several Lagomorph species, covering a wide geographical distribution. We studied these genes in <italic>Lepus timidus</italic>, <italic>L. europaeus, Oryctolagus cuniculus algirus, Romerolagus diazi</italic>, and <italic>Sylvilagus floridanus</italic>, using <italic>O. cuniculus cuniculus</italic> as control species for PCR and DNA sequencing. We studied the identities of the DNA sequences and built the corresponding phylogenetic tree. Sequencing was successful for both subspecies of <italic>O. cuniculus</italic> for all T2R genes studied, for five genes in <italic>Lepus</italic>, and for three genes in <italic>R. diazi</italic> and <italic>S. floridanus.</italic> We describe for the first time the partial repertoires of T2R genes for Lagomorphs species, other than the common rabbit. Our phylogenetic analyses indicate that sequence proximity levels follow the established taxonomic classification.</p>