Divergent sensory and immune gene evolution in sea turtles with contrasting demographic and life histories.

ABSTRACT: Sea turtles represent an ancient lineage of marine vertebrates that evolved from terrestrial ancestors over 100 Mya. The genomic basis of the unique physiological and ecological traits enabling these species to thrive in diverse marine habitats remains largely unknown. Additionally, many populations have drastically declined due to anthropogenic activities over the past two centuries, and their recovery is a high global conservation priority. We generated and analyzed high-quality reference genomes for the leatherback (Dermochelys coriacea) and green (Chelonia mydas) turtles, representing the two extant sea turtle families. These genomes are highly syntenic and homologous, but localized regions of noncollinearity were associated with higher copy numbers of immune, zinc-finger

SUBMITTER: Bentley BP 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC9962930 | biostudies-literature | 2023 Feb

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature