Recurrent evolution of adhesive defence systems in amphibians by parallel shifts in gene expression.

ABSTRACT: Natural selection can drive organisms to strikingly similar adaptive solutions, but the underlying molecular mechanisms often remain unknown. Several amphibians have independently evolved highly adhesive skin secretions (glues) that support a highly effective antipredator defence mechanism. Here we demonstrate that the glue of the Madagascan tomato frog, Dyscophus guineti, relies on two interacting proteins: a highly derived member of a widespread glycoprotein family and a galectin. Identification of homologous proteins in other amphibians reveals that these proteins attained a function in skin long before glues evolved. Yet, major elevations in their expression, besides structural changes in the glycoprotein (increasing its structural disorder and glycosylation), caused the independent ri

SUBMITTER: Zaman S 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC11237159 | biostudies-literature | 2024 Jul

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature