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Zou D, Huang S, Tian S, Kilunda FK, Murphy RW, Dahn HA, Zhou Y, Lee PS, Chen JM. Comparative genomics sheds new light on the convergent evolution of infrared vision in snakes. Proc Biol Sci 2024; 291:20240818. [PMID: 39043244 PMCID: PMC11265913 DOI: 10.1098/rspb.2024.0818] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/08/2024] [Revised: 05/30/2024] [Accepted: 06/19/2024] [Indexed: 07/25/2024] Open
Abstract
Infrared vision is a highly specialized sensory system that evolved independently in three clades of snakes. Apparently, convergent evolution occurred in the transient receptor potential ankyrin 1 (TRPA1) proteins of infrared-sensing snakes. However, this gene can only explain how infrared signals are received, and not the transduction and processing of those signals. We sequenced the genome of Xenopeltis unicolor, a key outgroup species of pythons, and performed a genome-wide analysis of convergence between two clades of infrared-sensing snakes. Our results revealed pervasive molecular adaptation in pathways associated with neural development and other functions, with parallel selection on loci associated with trigeminal nerve structural organization. In addition, we found evidence of convergent amino acid substitutions in a set of genes, including TRPA1 and TRPM2. The analysis also identified convergent accelerated evolution in non-coding elements near 12 genes involved in facial nerve structural organization and optic nerve development. Thus, convergent evolution occurred across multiple dimensions of infrared vision in vipers and pythons, as well as amino acid substitutions, non-coding elements, genes and functions. These changes enabled independent groups of snakes to develop and use infrared vision.
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Affiliation(s)
- Dahu Zou
- Engineering Research Center of Eco-Environment in Three Gorges Reservoir Region of Ministry of Education, China Three Gorges University, Yichang, Hubei443002, People’s Republic of China
| | - Song Huang
- The Anhui Provincial Key Laboratory of Biodiversity Conservation and Ecological Security in the Yangtze River Basin, College of Life Sciences, Anhui Normal University, Wuhu, Anhui241000, People’s Republic of China
| | - Shilin Tian
- Novogene Bioinformatics Institute, Beijing100000, People’s Republic of China
| | - Felista Kasyoka Kilunda
- Key Laboratory of Genetic Evolution and Animal Models and Yunnan Key Laboratory of Biodiversity and Ecological Conservation of Gaoligong Mountain, Kunming Institute of Zoology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Kunming, Yunnan650223, People’s Republic of China
| | - Robert W. Murphy
- Reptilia Zoo and Education Centre, 2501 Rutherford Road, Vaughan, ONL4K 2N6, Canada
- Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of Toronto, Toronto, ONM5S 2C6, Canada
| | - Hollis A. Dahn
- Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of Toronto, Toronto, ONM5S 2C6, Canada
| | - Youbing Zhou
- Engineering Research Center of Eco-Environment in Three Gorges Reservoir Region of Ministry of Education, China Three Gorges University, Yichang, Hubei443002, People’s Republic of China
| | - Ping-Shin Lee
- The Anhui Provincial Key Laboratory of Biodiversity Conservation and Ecological Security in the Yangtze River Basin, College of Life Sciences, Anhui Normal University, Wuhu, Anhui241000, People’s Republic of China
| | - Jin-Min Chen
- The Anhui Provincial Key Laboratory of Biodiversity Conservation and Ecological Security in the Yangtze River Basin, College of Life Sciences, Anhui Normal University, Wuhu, Anhui241000, People’s Republic of China
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First Genome of Rock Lizard Darevskia valentini Involved in Formation of Several Parthenogenetic Species. Genes (Basel) 2022; 13:genes13091569. [PMID: 36140737 PMCID: PMC9498476 DOI: 10.3390/genes13091569] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/24/2022] [Revised: 08/22/2022] [Accepted: 08/27/2022] [Indexed: 11/22/2022] Open
Abstract
The extant reptiles are one of the most diverse clades among terrestrial vertebrates and one of a few groups with instances of parthenogenesis. Due to the hybrid origin of parthenogenetic species, reference genomes of the parental species as well as of the parthenogenetic progeny are indispensable to explore the genetic foundations of parthenogenetic reproduction. Here, we report on the first genome assembly of rock lizard Darevskia valentini, a paternal species for several parthenogenetic lineages. The novel genome was used in the reconstruction of the comprehensive phylogeny of Squamata inferred independently from 7369 trees of single-copy orthologs and a supermatrix of 378 conserved proteins. We also investigated Hox clusters, the loci that are often regarded as playing an important role in the speciation of animal groups with drastically diverse morphology. We demonstrated that Hox clusters of D. valentini are invaded with transposons and contain the HoxC1 gene that has been considered to be lost in the amniote ancestor. This study provides confirmation for previous works and releases new genomic data that will contribute to future discoveries on the mechanisms of parthenogenesis as well as support comparative studies among reptiles.
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Sinica V, Vlachová V. Transient receptor potential ankyrin 1 channel: An evolutionarily tuned thermosensor. Physiol Res 2021; 70:363-381. [PMID: 33982589 DOI: 10.33549/physiolres.934697] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/08/2023] Open
Abstract
The discovery of the role of the transient receptor potential ankyrin 1 (TRPA1) channel as a polymodal detector of cold and pain-producing stimuli almost two decades ago catalyzed the consequent identification of various vertebrate and invertebrate orthologues. In different species, the role of TRPA1 has been implicated in numerous physiological functions, indicating that the molecular structure of the channel exhibits evolutionary flexibility. Until very recently, information about the critical elements of the temperature-sensing molecular machinery of thermosensitive ion channels such as TRPA1 had lagged far behind information obtained from mutational and functional analysis. Current developments in single-particle cryo-electron microscopy are revealing precisely how the thermosensitive channels operate, how they might be targeted with drugs, and at which sites they can be critically regulated by membrane lipids. This means that it is now possible to resolve a huge number of very important pharmacological, biophysical and physiological questions in a way we have never had before. In this review, we aim at providing some of the recent knowledge on the molecular mechanisms underlying the temperature sensitivity of TRPA1. We also demonstrate how the search for differences in temperature and chemical sensitivity between human and mouse TRPA1 orthologues can be a useful approach to identifying important domains with a key role in channel activation.
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Affiliation(s)
- V Sinica
- Laboratory of Cellular Neurophysiology, Institute of Physiology of the Czech Academy of Sciences, Prague 4, Czech Republic. or
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Tsai IH, Wang YM, Lin SW, Huang KF. Structural and bioinformatic analyses of Azemiops venom serine proteases reveal close phylogeographic relationships to pitvipers from eastern China and the New World. Toxicon 2021; 198:93-101. [PMID: 33957151 DOI: 10.1016/j.toxicon.2021.04.022] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/26/2021] [Revised: 04/17/2021] [Accepted: 04/23/2021] [Indexed: 10/21/2022]
Abstract
The semi-fossil and pit-less Azemiops feae is possibly the most primitive crotalid species. Here, we have cloned and sequenced cDNAs encoding four serine proteases (vSPs) from the venom glands of Chinese A. feae. Full amino-acid sequences of the major vSP (designated as AzKNa) and three minor vSPs (designated as AzKNb, AzKNc and Az-PA) were deduced. Using Protein-BLAST search, the ten most-similar vSPs for each Azemiops vSP have been selected for multiple sequence alignment, and all the homologs are crotalid vSPs. The results suggest that the A. feae vSPs are structurally most like those of eastern-Chinese Gloydius, Viridovipera, Protobothrops and North American pitvipers, and quite different from more-specialized vSPs such as Agkistrodon venom Protein-C activators. The vSPs from Chinese A. feae and those from Vietnamese A. feae show significant sequence variations. AzKNa is acidic and contains six potential N-glycosylation sites and its surface-charge distribution differs greatly from that of AzKNb, as revealed by 3D-modeling. AzKNb and AzKNc do not contain N-glycosylation sites although most of their close homologs contain one or two. Az-PA belongs to the plasminogen-activator subtype with a conserved N20-glycosylation site. The evolution of this subtype of vSPs in Azemiops and related pitvipers has been traced by phylogenetic analysis.
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Affiliation(s)
- Inn-Ho Tsai
- Institute of Biological Chemistry, Academia Sinica, Taipei, Taiwan; Institute of Biochemical Scienvaces, National Taiwan University, Taipei, Taiwan.
| | - Ying-Ming Wang
- Institute of Biological Chemistry, Academia Sinica, Taipei, Taiwan
| | - Sheng-Wei Lin
- Institute of Biological Chemistry, Academia Sinica, Taipei, Taiwan
| | - Kai-Fa Huang
- Institute of Biological Chemistry, Academia Sinica, Taipei, Taiwan
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