Positive Selection Drove the Adaptation of Mitochondrial Genes to the Demands of Flight and High-Altitude Environments in Grasshoppers.

ABSTRACT: The molecular evolution of mitochondrial genes responds to changes in energy requirements and to high altitude adaptation in animals, but this has not been fully explored in invertebrates. The evolution of atmospheric oxygen content from high to low necessarily affects the energy requirements of insect movement. We examined 13 mitochondrial protein-coding genes (PCGs) of grasshoppers to test whether the adaptive evolution of genes involved in energy metabolism occurs in changes in atmospheric oxygen content and high altitude adaptation. Our molecular evolutionary analysis of the 13 PCGs in 15 species of flying grasshoppers and 13 related flightless grasshoppers indicated that, similar to previous studies, flightless grasshoppers have experienced relaxed selection. We found evidence of sign

SUBMITTER: Li XD 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6290170 | biostudies-literature | 2018

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature