Data from: T1R2-mediated sweet sensing in a lizard

Sugars are an important class of nutrients found in the flowers and fruits
of angiosperms (flowering plants). Although T1R2-T1R3 has been identified
as the mammalian sweet receptor, some birds rely on a repurposed T1R1-T1R3
savory receptor to sense sugars. Moreover, as the radiation of flowering
plants occurred later than the last common ancestor of amniotes, sugar may
not have been an important diet item for amniotes early in evolution,
raising the question of whether T1R2-T1R3 is a universal sugar sensor or
only a mammalian innovation. Here, using brief-access behavioral tests and
functional characterization of taste receptors, we demonstrate that the
nectar-taking Madagascar giant day gecko (Phelsuma grandis) can sense
sugars through the T1R2-T1R3 receptor. These results reveal the existence
of T1R2-based sweet taste in a non-avian reptile, which has important
implications for our understanding of the evolutionary history of sugar
detection in amniotes.