Advancement of sensory ecology and genomics of primates by contrasting New and Old Worlds

2021 Fiscal Year Final Research Report

• Project/Area Number: 18H04005
• Research Category: Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research (A)
• Allocation Type: Single-year Grants
• Section: 一般
• Review Section: Medium-sized Section 45:Biology at organismal to population levels and anthropology, and related fields
• Research Institution: The University of Tokyo
• Principal Investigator: Kawamura Shoji 東京大学, 大学院新領域創成科学研究科, 教授 (40282727)
• Co-Investigator(Kenkyū-buntansha): 今井 啓雄 京都大学, 霊長類研究所, 教授 (60314176)
• Project Period (FY): 2018-04-01 – 2022-03-31
• Keywords: 感覚進化 / 霊長類 / 色覚 / 嗅覚 / 味覚

Outline of Final Research Achievements

We detected a difference in foraging patterns of wild dichromatic and trichromatic white-faced capuchins for flowers, suggesting that trichromacy enhances detection of small, ephemeral resources. We showed that frequency of fruit-directed olfactory behavior is positively correlated with increases in the volume of fruit odors produced during ripening and found a complex interaction among fruit traits, sensory capacities and foraging strategies. We compared genomes of capuchin populations from tropical dry forests and rainforests and identified genes under positive selection related to periodic resource scarcity, longevity and brain development. We showed that the ancestral type of primate umami-taste receptor T1R1/T1R3 was sensitive to nucleotides of insects and evolved to detect L-Glu found in folivorous diets. By using targeted capture enrichment for olfactory receptor genes of Japanese population, we found high and novel genetic variation possibly maintained by balancing selection.

Free Research Field

進化遺伝学

Academic Significance and Societal Importance of the Research Achievements

コスタリカでシロガオオマキザル野生群を調査し、２色型（昆虫採食）と３色型（花弁採食）にそれぞれ有利な採食対象があることを示し、採食対象により霊長類は探索方法を変え、異なる感覚を相補的に用いることを示した。熱帯雨林と乾燥林とでシロガオオマキザルの全ゲノム配列決定を行い種内・種間比較することで、食資源の周期的枯渇対応や長寿命、脳発生に関わる遺伝子への自然選択を検出した。霊長類の旨味受容体T1R1/T1R3は小型昆虫食性から大型葉食性への進化に伴い核酸からLグルタミン酸へと感受対象を適応させたことを示した。日本人集団を対象に嗅覚受容体遺伝子群のシーケンシングを行い、多型の維持傾向を示した。