Hologenomic insights into mammalian adaptations to myrmecophagy.

ABSTRACT: Highly specialized myrmecophagy (ant- and termite-eating) has independently evolved multiple times in species of various mammalian orders and represents a textbook example of phenotypic evolutionary convergence. We explored the mechanisms involved in this unique dietary adaptation and convergence through multi-omic analyses, including analyses of host genomes and transcriptomes, as well as gut metagenomes, in combination with validating assays of key enzymes' activities, in the species of three mammalian orders (anteaters, echidnas and pangolins of the orders Xenarthra, Monotremata and Pholidota, respectively) and their relatives. We demonstrate the complex and diverse interactions between hosts and their symbiotic microbiota that have provided adaptive solutions for nutritional and detoxi

SUBMITTER: Cheng SC 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC10139702 | biostudies-literature | 2023 Apr

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature