Natural Selection at the Brush-Border: Adaptations to Carbohydrate Diets in Humans and Other Mammals.

ABSTRACT: Dietary shifts can drive molecular evolution in mammals and a major transition in human history, the agricultural revolution, favored carbohydrate consumption. We investigated the evolutionary history of nine genes encoding brush-border proteins involved in carbohydrate digestion/absorption. Results indicated widespread adaptive evolution in mammals, with several branches experiencing episodic selection, particularly strong in bats. Many positively selected sites map to functional protein regions (e.g., within glucosidase catalytic crevices), with parallel evolution at SI (sucrase-isomaltase) and MGAM (maltase-glucoamylase). In human populations, five genes were targeted by positive selection acting on noncoding variants within regulatory elements. Analysis of ancient DNA samples indicated

SUBMITTER: Pontremoli C 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4607523 | biostudies-literature | 2015 Aug

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature