Different Genes are Recruited During Convergent Evolution of Pregnancy and the Placenta.

ABSTRACT: The repeated evolution of the same traits in distantly related groups (convergent evolution) raises a key question in evolutionary biology: do the same genes underpin convergent phenotypes? Here, we explore one such trait, viviparity (live birth), which, qualitative studies suggest, may indeed have evolved via genetic convergence. There are >150 independent origins of live birth in vertebrates, providing a uniquely powerful system to test the mechanisms underpinning convergence in morphology, physiology, and/or gene recruitment during pregnancy. We compared transcriptomic data from eight vertebrates (lizards, mammals, sharks) that gestate embryos within the uterus. Since many previous studies detected qualitative similarities in gene use during independent origins of pregnancy, we expected

SUBMITTER: Foster CSP 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC9048886 | biostudies-literature | 2022 Apr

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature