New chromosome-scale genomes provide insights into marine adaptations of sea snakes (Hydrophis: Elapidae).

ABSTRACT:

Background

Sea snakes underwent a complete transition from land to sea within the last ~ 15 million years, yet they remain a conspicuous gap in molecular studies of marine adaptation in vertebrates.

Results

Here, we generate four new annotated sea snake genomes, three of these at chromosome-scale (Hydrophis major, H. ornatus and H. curtus), and perform detailed comparative genomic analyses of sea snakes and their closest terrestrial relatives. Phylogenomic analyses highlight the possibility of near-simultaneous speciation at the root of Hydrophis, and synteny maps show intra-chromosomal variations that will be important targets for future adaptation and speciation genomic studies of this system. We then used a strict screen for positive selection in sea snakes (against a bac

SUBMITTER: Ludington AJ 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC10709897 | biostudies-literature | 2023 Dec

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature