This gene encodes a member of a family of candidate taste receptors that are members of the G protein-coupled receptor superfamily. These family members are specifically expressed by taste receptor cells of the tongue and palate epithelia. Each of these apparently intronless genes encodes a 7-transmembrane receptor protein, functioning as a bitter taste receptor. This gene is clustered with another 3 candidate taste receptor genes in chromosome 7 and is genetically linked to loci that influence bitter perception. Gustducin-coupled receptor implicated in the perception of bitter compounds in the oral cavity and the gastrointestinal tract. Signals through PLCB2 and the calcium-regulated cation channel TRPM5. Expressed in a subset of gustducin-positive taste receptor cells of the tongue. The Lys-172 polymorphism in TAS2R16 is associated with genetic susceptibility to alcoholism. Confers bitter perception of salicin to non-taster mice.