In Cold Blood: Compositional Bias and Positive Selection Drive the High Evolutionary Rate of Vampire Bats Mitochondrial Genomes.

ABSTRACT: Mitochondrial genomes of animals have long been considered to evolve under the action of purifying selection. Nevertheless, there is increasing evidence that they can also undergo episodes of positive selection in response to shifts in physiological or environmental demands. Vampire bats experienced such a shift, as they are the only mammals feeding exclusively on blood and possessing anatomical adaptations to deal with the associated physiological requirements (e.g., ingestion of high amounts of liquid water and iron). We sequenced eight new chiropteran mitogenomes including two species of vampire bats, five representatives of other lineages of phyllostomids and one close outgroup. Conducting detailed comparative mitogenomic analyses, we found evidence for accelerated evolutionary rates a

SUBMITTER: Botero-Castro F 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6127110 | biostudies-literature | 2018 Sep

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature