| Taste-receptor cells, buds and papillae. a, Taste buds (left) are composed of 50-150 TRCs (depending on the species), distributed across different papillae. Circumvallate papillae are found at the very back of the tongue and contain hundreds (mice) to thousands (human) of taste buds. Foliate papillae are present at the posterior lateral edge of the tongue and contain a dozen to hundreds of taste buds. Fungiform papillae contain one or a few taste buds and are found in the anterior two-thirds of the tongue. TRCs project microvillae to the apical surface of the taste bud, where they form the 'taste pore'; this is the site of interaction with tastants. b, Recent molecular and functional data have revealed that, contrary to popular belief, there is no tongue 'map': responsiveness to the five basic modalities-bitter, sour, sweet, salty and umami-is present in all areas of the tongue 6,8,9,32,78 .

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The emerging picture of taste coding at the periphery is one of elegant simplicity. Contrary to what was generally believed, it is now clear that distinct cell types expressing unique receptors are tuned to detect each of the five basic tastes: sweet, sour, bitter, salty and umami. Importantly, receptor cells for each taste quality function as dedicated sensors wired to elicit stereotypic responses

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Comparing Class A GPCRs to bitter taste receptors: Structural motifs, ligand interactions and agonist-to-antagonist ratio

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