ABSTRACT: Rediscovery, taxonomic status, and phylogenetic relationships of two rare and endemic snakes (Serpentes: Psammophinae) from the Angolan Escarpment.
Project description:Vampire bats and snakes have taken thermosensation to the extreme by developing specialized systems for detecting infrared radiation. As such, these creatures provide a window into the molecular and genetic mechanisms underlying evolutionary tuning of thermoreceptors in a species or cell type specific manner. In each case, robust thermal sensitivity likely reflects specialized anatomical features of infrared sensing pit organs, as well as intrinsic heat sensitivity of trigeminal nerve fibers that innervate these structures. Here we show that vampire bats use a molecular strategy involving alternative splicing of the TRPV1 gene to generate a channel specifically within trigeminal ganglia that has a reduced thermal activation threshold. Selective expression of splicing factors in trigeminal, but not dorsal root ganglia, together with unique organization of the vampire bat TRPV1 gene underlies this mechanism of sensory adaptation. Comparative genomic analysis of the TRPV1 locus supports phylogenetic relationships within the proposed Pegasoferae clade of mammals. Gene expression measurements implicate a TRPV1 splice isoform as the heat-sensitive channel in vampire bats
Project description:Vampire bats and snakes have taken thermosensation to the extreme by developing specialized systems for detecting infrared radiation. As such, these creatures provide a window into the molecular and genetic mechanisms underlying evolutionary tuning of thermoreceptors in a species or cell type specific manner. In each case, robust thermal sensitivity likely reflects specialized anatomical features of infrared sensing pit organs, as well as intrinsic heat sensitivity of trigeminal nerve fibers that innervate these structures. Here we show that vampire bats use a molecular strategy involving alternative splicing of the TRPV1 gene to generate a channel specifically within trigeminal ganglia that has a reduced thermal activation threshold. Selective expression of splicing factors in trigeminal, but not dorsal root ganglia, together with unique organization of the vampire bat TRPV1 gene underlies this mechanism of sensory adaptation. Comparative genomic analysis of the TRPV1 locus supports phylogenetic relationships within the proposed Pegasoferae clade of mammals.
Project description:We seek to investigate the genetic relationships between different Bantu-speaking populations and the migratory routes they followed during various phases of the Bantu expansion. Genomic and whole genome amplified DNA were genotyped on the Illumina InfiniumOmni2.5Exome-8v1.3 array. For quality control filtering, we used the PLINK v1.9 software and custom scripts.
