Your mouth isn’t the only part of your body enjoying the taste of your favorite dish from a restaurant or the chocolate chip cookie that just came out of the oven. Cells throughout your body are actually tasting it too; they just don’t send the signals to your brain like taste buds do.
A team of researchers at the University of Cincinnati further explored this concept further by breaking down the biology of a Mexican Cave Fish. As the blind fish reaches maturity, taste buds develop in multiple locations on its body, including under its chin and on its back. The developmental studies revealed that the fish develop external taste buds between 5 and 18 months post fertilization, coinciding with a change in diet, the switch from crustaceans to bat guano. The researchers in the study believe the developed taste buds act as a replacement for the fish’s sight: the evolution of smaller eyes on the fish was associated with greater number of external taste receptor cells, demonstrating a phenotypic trade-off in the fish. Ultimately, helping the fish detect its nutritious meal, bat guano, which is an essential source of nutrients in its limited environment.
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In our AP Biology class, we have learned how organelles in our cells help carry out various functions. In animal cells, genetic information is stored in the nucleus. This genetic information instructs the fish to produce taste bud cells as they reach maturity. Additionally, we have learned how neurons transmit message impulses that communicate information from the environment and signal different parts of the body to respond to the information. As bat guano is detected by the dendrites of the taste receptor cells, the neuron fires, sending information to the brain that food is near, prompting the fish to eat what is in front of it. This is extremely helpful for these fish, as they cannot see the bat guano in such a dark environment.
A little different from the cave fish, humans may not be using taste receptors to find their next meal, but we too have taste receptors throughout the body, not just in our mouths. There are numerous diverse locations of the taste receptors, covering areas in our ears, urethra, trachea, heart muscle, and even testes. But why is this needed?
These taste receptors are located in areas to detect when harmful invaders enter our bodies. With their help, the body can identify and fight against outside particles to prevent a virus, or infection. For instance, in their article, Robert J. Lee and Noam A. Cohen describe how antimicrobial proteins called defensins are sent to the locations of invaders when detected by the taste receptors. This response is extremely efficient, as it can take a long time for the body to produce antibodies, but only takes minutes for the taste receptors to respond to invaders.
But a lingering question still stands: What do our taste buds in our mouths do other than remind us how delicious those cookies taste? Our taste buds work in a similar fashion as the taste receptors, for they too prevent us from ingesting harmful foods. Cohen and Lee identify our tongue’s six senses: bitter, sweet, sour, salty, and savory. When something tastes “bad” we automatically spit it out, ultimately protecting our body and digestive system from potential harm, such as rotten milk that could upset our stomach
It’s still a question as to why the fish’s taste receptors increase with the switch in their diet, but at least they’ve helped us understand a little more about our own body’s interesting system.
I’ve always been interested on how our bodies are impacted by the food we eat. Growing up with CSID I’ve learned how different foods cause reactions in my body, and detecting the foods I’m eating is important. For my body, eating foods high in sugar can negatively impact me, so when my taste buds detect a sweet food, I know not to eat too much of it. I wonder, do the reactions I get from certain foods like sucrose and gluten have a correlation with the taste receptors throughout my body?
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