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Comparative genomics provides insights into the aquatic adaptations of mammals

Yuan, Yuan; Zhang, Yaolei; Zhang, Peijun; Liu, Chang; Wang, Jiahao; Gao, Haiyu; Hoelzel, A. Rus; Seim, Inge; Lv, Meiqi; Lin, Mingli; Dong, Lijun; Gao, Haoyang; Yang, Zixin; Caruso, Francesco; Lin, Wenzhi; da Fonseca, Rute R.; Wang, Ding; Wang, Xianyan; Rasmussen, Marianne H.; Liu, Mingming; Zheng, Jinsong; Zhao, Liyuan; Campos, Paula F.; Kang, Hui; Iversen, Maria; Song, Yue; Guo, Xinyu; Guo, Jiao; Qin, Yating; Pan, Shanshan; Xu, Qiwu; Meng, Lingfeng; A, Yunga; Liu, Shanshan; Lee, Simon Ming-Yuen; Liu, Xin; Xu, Xun; Yang, Huanming; Fan, Guangyi; Wang, Kun; Li, Songhai

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Authors

Yuan Yuan

Yaolei Zhang

Peijun Zhang

Chang Liu

Jiahao Wang

Haiyu Gao

Inge Seim

Meiqi Lv

Mingli Lin

Lijun Dong

Haoyang Gao

Zixin Yang

Francesco Caruso

Wenzhi Lin

Rute R. da Fonseca

Ding Wang

Xianyan Wang

Marianne H. Rasmussen

Mingming Liu

Jinsong Zheng

Liyuan Zhao

Paula F. Campos

Hui Kang

Maria Iversen

Yue Song

Xinyu Guo

Jiao Guo

Yating Qin

Shanshan Pan

Qiwu Xu

Lingfeng Meng

Yunga A

Shanshan Liu

Simon Ming-Yuen Lee

Xin Liu

Xun Xu

Huanming Yang

Guangyi Fan

Kun Wang

Songhai Li



Abstract

The ancestors of marine mammals once roamed the land and independently committed to an aquatic lifestyle. These macroevolutionary transitions have intrigued scientists for centuries. Here, we generated high-quality genome assemblies of 17 marine mammals (11 cetaceans and six pinnipeds), including eight assemblies at the chromosome level. Incorporating previously published data, we reconstructed the marine mammal phylogeny and population histories and identified numerous idiosyncratic and convergent genomic variations that possibly contributed to the transition from land to water in marine mammal lineages. Genes associated with the formation of blubber (NFIA), vascular development (SEMA3E), and heat production by brown adipose tissue (UCP1) had unique changes that may contribute to marine mammal thermoregulation. We also observed many lineage-specific changes in the marine mammals, including genes associated with deep diving and navigation. Our study advances understanding of the timing, pattern, and molecular changes associated with the evolution of mammalian lineages adapting to aquatic life.

Citation

Yuan, Y., Zhang, Y., Zhang, P., Liu, C., Wang, J., Gao, H., …Li, S. (2021). Comparative genomics provides insights into the aquatic adaptations of mammals. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 118(37), Article e2106080118. https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.2106080118

Journal Article Type Article
Acceptance Date Jul 26, 2021
Online Publication Date Sep 9, 2021
Publication Date 2021-09
Deposit Date Nov 17, 2021
Publicly Available Date Nov 18, 2021
Journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences
Print ISSN 0027-8424
Electronic ISSN 1091-6490
Publisher National Academy of Sciences
Peer Reviewed Peer Reviewed
Volume 118
Issue 37
Article Number e2106080118
DOI https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.2106080118

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Published Journal Article (Advance online version) (1.6 Mb)
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Publisher Licence URL
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

Copyright Statement
Advance online version This open access article is distributed under Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives License 4.0 (CC BY-NC-ND).





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