Hundreds of Genes Experienced Convergent Shifts in Selective Pressure in Marine Mammals.

ABSTRACT: Mammal species have made the transition to the marine environment several times, and their lineages represent one of the classical examples of convergent evolution in morphological and physiological traits. Nevertheless, the genetic mechanisms of their phenotypic transition are poorly understood, and investigations into convergence at the molecular level have been inconclusive. While past studies have searched for convergent changes at specific amino acid sites, we propose an alternative strategy to identify those genes that experienced convergent changes in their selective pressures, visible as changes in evolutionary rate specifically in the marine lineages. We present evidence of widespread convergence at the gene level by identifying parallel shifts in evolutionary rate during three in

SUBMITTER: Chikina M 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5854031 | biostudies-literature | 2016 Sep

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature