The Birth and Death of Olfactory Receptor Gene Families in Mammalian Niche Adaptation.

ABSTRACT: The olfactory receptor (OR) gene families, which govern mammalian olfaction, have undergone extensive expansion and contraction through duplication and pseudogenization. Previous studies have shown that broadly defined environmental adaptations (e.g., terrestrial vs. aquatic) are correlated with the number of functional and non-functional OR genes retained. However, to date, no study has examined species-specific gene duplications in multiple phylogenetically divergent mammals to elucidate OR evolution and adaptation. Here, we identify the OR gene families driving adaptation to different ecological niches by mapping the fate of species-specific gene duplications in the OR repertoire of 94 diverse mammalian taxa, using molecular phylogenomic methods. We analyze >70,000 OR gene sequences min

SUBMITTER: Hughes GM 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5967467 | biostudies-literature | 2018 Jun

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature