Pseudogenized Amelogenin Reveals Early Tooth Loss in True Toads (Anura: Bufonidae).

ABSTRACT: Extant anurans (frogs and toads) exhibit reduced dentition, ranging from a lack of mandibular teeth to complete edentulation, as observed in the true toads of the family Bufonidae. The evolutionary time line of these reductions remains vague due to a poor fossil record. Previous studies have demonstrated an association between the lack of teeth in edentulous vertebrates and the pseudogenization of the major tooth enamel gene amelogenin (AMEL) through accumulation of deleterious mutations and the disruption of its coding sequence. In this study, we have harnessed the pseudogenization of AMEL as a molecular dating tool to correlate loss of dentition with genomic mutation patterns during the rise of the family Bufonidae. Specifically, we have utilized AMEL pseudogenes in three members of the

SUBMITTER: Shaheen J 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC8699095 | biostudies-literature | 2021 Nov

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature