Shared Patterns of Gene Expression and Protein Evolution Associated with Adaptation to Desert Environments in Rodents.

ABSTRACT: Desert specialization has arisen multiple times across rodents and is often associated with a suite of convergent phenotypes, including modification of the kidneys to mitigate water loss. However, the extent to which phenotypic convergence in desert rodents is mirrored at the molecular level is unknown. Here, we sequenced kidney mRNA and assembled transcriptomes for three pairs of rodent species to search for shared differences in gene expression and amino acid sequence associated with adaptation to deserts. We conducted phylogenetically independent comparisons between a desert specialist and a non-desert relative in three families representing ∼70 million years of evolution. Overall, patterns of gene expression faithfully recapitulated the phylogeny of these six taxa providing a strong ev

SUBMITTER: Bittner NKJ 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC9648513 | biostudies-literature | 2022 Nov

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature