Hibernation in bats (Mammalia: Chiroptera) did not evolve through positive selection of leptin.

ABSTRACT: Temperature regulation is an indispensable physiological activity critical for animal survival. However, relatively little is known about the origin of thermoregulatory regimes in a phylogenetic context, or the genetic mechanisms driving the evolution of these regimes. Using bats as a study system, we examined the evolution of three thermoregulatory regimes (hibernation, daily heterothermy, and homeothermy) in relation to the evolution of leptin, a protein implicated in regulation of torpor bouts in mammals, including bats. A threshold model was used to test for a correlation between lineages with positively selected lep, the gene encoding leptin, and the thermoregulatory regimes of those lineages. Although evidence for episodic positive selection of lep was found, positive s

SUBMITTER: Lazzeroni ME 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6308895 | biostudies-literature | 2018 Dec

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature