Taste perception varies strongly between individuals but the factors at the origin of this variability are not fully understood. For example, different events occurring at the vicinity of the taste receptors on the tongue can modulate taste perception. Our group has recently suggested that the microbiota at the surface of the tongue could be involved by controlling the taste compounds concentration in the lingual film (the biological material covering the tongue).
The aim of this work is to evaluate the contribution of the oral microbiota to taste.
To do this, taste sensitivity (5 basic tastes) was determined in 100 healthy adult subjects and the microbiota of their lingual film and saliva was characterized using quantitative metagenomics.
A total of 666 bacterial species have been identified and the large majority of the species are shared between saliva and lingual film (571) but the number of non-shared species is higher in saliva. The relationship between the bacterial profiles and taste sensitivity depends on the medium considered (saliva vs lingual film) and of the taste nature.
This work opens new perspectives on the implication of the oral microbiota on physiological functions occurring in the oral cavity.
Funding: This work was supported by grants from the French “Investissements d’Avenir” program, project ISITE-BFC (contract ANR-15-IDEX-0003) TOM and the French Institut Carnot Qualiment (project MORGoM).