Kiwi genome provides insights into evolution of a nocturnal lifestyle.

ABSTRACT:

Background

Kiwi, comprising five species from the genus Apteryx, are endangered, ground-dwelling bird species endemic to New Zealand. They are the smallest and only nocturnal representatives of the ratites. The timing of kiwi adaptation to a nocturnal niche and the genomic innovations, which shaped sensory systems and morphology to allow this adaptation, are not yet fully understood.

Results

We sequenced and assembled the brown kiwi genome to 150-fold coverage and annotated the genome using kiwi transcript data and non-redundant protein information from multiple bird species. We identified evolutionary sequence changes that underlie adaptation to nocturnality and estimated the onset time of these adaptations. Several opsin genes involved in color vision are inactivated in th

SUBMITTER: Le Duc D 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4511969 | biostudies-literature | 2015 Jul

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature