Olfactory receptor gene evolution is unusually rapid across Tetrapoda and outpaces chemosensory phenotypic change.

ABSTRACT: Chemosensation is the most ubiquitous sense in animals, enacted by the products of complex gene families that detect environmental chemical cues and larger-scale sensory structures that process these cues. While there is a general conception that olfactory receptor (OR) genes evolve rapidly, the universality of this phenomenon across vertebrates, and its magnitude, are unclear. The supposed correlation between molecular rates of chemosensory evolution and phenotypic diversity of chemosensory systems is largely untested. We combine comparative genomics and sensory morphology to test whether OR genes and olfactory phenotypic traits evolve at faster rates than other genes or traits. Using published genomes, we identified ORs in 21 tetrapods, including amphibians, reptiles

SUBMITTER: Yohe LR 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC7750991 | biostudies-literature | 2020 Oct

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature