Dataset Information

'Obesity' is healthy for cetaceans? Evidence from pervasive positive selection in genes related to triacylglycerol metabolism.

ABSTRACT: Cetaceans are a group of secondarily adapted marine mammals with an enigmatic history of transition from terrestrial to fully aquatic habitat and subsequent adaptive radiation in waters around the world. Numerous physiological and morphological cetacean characteristics have been acquired in response to this drastic habitat transition; for example, the thickened blubber is one of the most striking changes that increases their buoyancy, supports locomotion, and provides thermal insulation. However, the genetic basis underlying the blubber thickening in cetaceans remains poorly explored. Here, 88 candidate genes associated with triacylglycerol metabolism were investigated in representative cetaceans and other mammals to test whether the thickened blubber matched adaptive evolution of triacylglycerol metabolism-related genes. Positive selection was detected in 41 of the 88 candidate genes, and functional characterization of these genes indicated that these are involved mainly in triacylglycerol synthesis and lipolysis processes. In addition, some essential regulatory genes underwent significant positive selection in cetacean-specific lineages, whereas no selection signal was detected in the counterpart terrestrial mammals. The extensive occurrence of positive selection in triacylglycerol metabolism-related genes is suggestive of their essential role in secondary adaptation to an aquatic life, and further implying that 'obesity' might be an indicator of good health for cetaceans.

SUBMITTER: Wang Z

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4585638 | biostudies-literature | 2015

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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'Obesity' is healthy for cetaceans? Evidence from pervasive positive selection in genes related to triacylglycerol metabolism.

Wang Zhengfei Z Chen Zhuo Z Xu Shixia S Ren Wenhua W Zhou Kaiya K Yang Guang G

Scientific reports 20150918

Cetaceans are a group of secondarily adapted marine mammals with an enigmatic history of transition from terrestrial to fully aquatic habitat and subsequent adaptive radiation in waters around the world. Numerous physiological and morphological cetacean characteristics have been acquired in response to this drastic habitat transition; for example, the thickened blubber is one of the most striking changes that increases their buoyancy, supports locomotion, and provides thermal insulation. However ...[more]

PMID: 26381091

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Project description:Viruses hijack cellular proteins, known as viral receptors, to initiate their infections. Viral receptors are subject to two conflicting directional forces, namely, negative selection to maintain their cellular function and positive selection resulted from the ever-changing host-virus arms race. Much remains unclear about how viral receptors evolved in mammals and whether viral receptors from different mammal groups experienced different strengths of natural selection. Here, we perform evolutionary analyses of 92 viral receptors in five major orders of mammals, including Carnivora, Cetartiodactyla, Chiroptera, Primates, and Rodentia. In all five mammal orders, signals of positive selection are detected for a high proportion of viral receptors (from 41% in Carnivora to 65% in Rodentia). Many positively selected residues overlap the host-virus interaction interface. Compared with control genes, we find viral receptors underwent elevated rates of adaptive evolution in all five mammal orders, suggesting that host-virus conflicts are the main driver of the adaptive evolution of viral receptors in mammals. Interestingly, the overall strength of natural selection acting on viral receptors driven by the host-virus arms race is largely homogenous and correlated among different mammal orders, with bats and rodents, zoonosis reservoirs of importance, being unexceptional. Taken together, our findings indicate host-virus conflicts have driven the elevated rate of adaptive evolution in viral receptors across mammals and might have important implications in zoonosis surveillance and prediction. IMPORTANCE Viral receptors are cellular proteins hijacked by viruses to help their infections. A complete picture on the evolution of viral receptors in mammals is still lacking. Here, we perform a comprehensive evolutionary analysis of the evolution of 92 viral receptors in five mammal orders, including Carnivora, Cetartiodactyla, Chiroptera, Primates, and Rodentia. We find that positive selection pervasively occurred during the evolution of viral receptors, and viral receptors exhibit an elevated rate of adaptive evolution compared to that of control genes in all five mammal orders, suggesting host-virus conflicts are a major driver of the adaptive evolution of viral receptors. Interestingly, the strength of positive selection acting on viral receptors is similar among the five mammal orders. Our study might have important implications in understanding the evolution of host-virus interaction.

Dataset Information

'Obesity' is healthy for cetaceans? Evidence from pervasive positive selection in genes related to triacylglycerol metabolism.

Publications

'Obesity' is healthy for cetaceans? Evidence from pervasive positive selection in genes related to triacylglycerol metabolism.

Similar Datasets

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