Do Rats Have Taste Buds?
WouterWe know rats have taste buds, but we know little about how they develop and function. Most scientists are still uncertain about this complex sensory organ. In fact, it may be impossible to detect taste buds in a newborn rat. The immature taste buds contained very few cells, and they had no access to an open trench.
Taste buds are separate sensory organs that can contain up to 100 cells, some of which are sensory and some are used for other functions. Most rodent studies show that only a small subset of taste bud cells are capable of responding to sweet, bitter, and umami tastes. The remaining cells are thought to be supporting cells.
Rats have a long postnatal period to develop taste buds. They can have 610 mature taste buds by 90 days of age. The number of cells per mature taste bud increases threefold during this period. This increase may be due to a leveling out of the logarithmic growth in the area of the trench wall epithelium. The density of taste buds increases continuously during the postnatal period.
The development of taste buds in rats may be related to changes in dietary requirements and energy requirements. However, the mechanisms responsible for these changes remain elusive. One study looked at changes in the development of taste nerves in rats of different ages. Researchers found that older rats were less likely to prefer umami tastes and were less sensitive to sweet flavors.
