Systematic detection of brain protein-coding genes under positive selection during primate evolution and their roles in cognition.

ABSTRACT: The human brain differs from that of other primates, but the genetic basis of these differences remains unclear. We investigated the evolutionary pressures acting on almost all human protein-coding genes (N = 11,667; 1:1 orthologs in primates) based on their divergence from those of early hominins, such as Neanderthals, and non-human primates. We confirm that genes encoding brain-related proteins are among the most strongly conserved protein-coding genes in the human genome. Combining our evolutionary pressure metrics for the protein-coding genome with recent data sets, we found that this conservation applied to genes functionally associated with the synapse and expressed in brain structures such as the prefrontal cortex and the cerebellum. Conversely, several genes presenting signa

SUBMITTER: Dumas G 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC7919455 | biostudies-literature | 2021 Mar

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature