Dynamic evolution of V1R putative pheromone receptors between Mus musculus and Mus spretus.

ABSTRACT:

Background

The mammalian vomeronasal organ (VNO) expresses two G-protein coupled receptor gene families that mediate pheromone responses, the V1R and V2R receptor genes. In rodents, there are ~150 V1R genes comprising 12 subfamilies organized in gene clusters at multiple chromosomal locations. Previously, we showed that several of these subfamilies had been extensively modulated by gene duplications, deletions, and gene conversions around the time of the evolutionary split of the mouse and rat lineages, consistent with the hypothesis that V1R repertoires might be involved in reinforcing speciation events. Here, we generated genome sequence for one large cluster containing two V1R subfamilies in Mus spretus, a closely related and sympatric species to Mus musculus, and investigated e

SUBMITTER: Kurzweil VC 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC2644715 | biostudies-literature | 2009 Feb

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature