Gustducin is a taste-cell-specific G protein closely related to the transducins

Abstract
A novel G protein α-subunit (α-gustducin) has been identified and cloned from taste tissue, α-Gustducin messenger RNA is expressed in taste buds of all taste papillae (circumvallate, foliate and fungiform); it is not expressed in non-sensory portions of the tongue, nor is it expressed in the other tissues examined, α-Gustducin most closely resembles the transducins (the rod and cone photoreceptor G proteins), suggesting that gustducin's role in taste transduction is analogous to that of transducin in light transduction.