Background

Cervids have evolved very successful means for survival and thriving to adapt to various climates and environments. One of these successful means might be the effective and efficient way of communication. To support this notion, cervids are well equipped with a variety of skin glands that distribute in different body regions. However, studies relevant to adaptive evolution in cervids, particularly on olfactory reception at the molecular level, have thus far not been reported.

Objective

To provide valuable insights into molecular evidence for the adaptive evolution of olfactory-related gene in cervids.

Methods

Based on recently sequenced genomes of cervids and closely-related-species, we performed comparative genomic analysis at genome level using bioinformatics tools.

Results

Tree topology strongly supported that Bovidae was the sister group of Moschidae and both formed a branch that was then clustered with Cervidae. Expansion of heavy chain genes of the dynein family and 51 rapidly evolving genes could be associated with adaptation of cilia that serve as sensory organelles and act as cellular antennae. Based on the branch-site model test along the deer branch spanning 7–21 mammalian species, 14 deer olfactory receptor genes were found to be undergoing positive selection pressure and 89 positive selection sites (probability > 60%) had amino acid substitutions unique to deer.

Conclusion

This study, for the first time, provides significant molecular evidence for adaption of olfactory-related genes of cervids according to their olfactory behavior.

中文翻译：

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宫颈中嗅觉相关基因适应性进化的分子证据。

背景

子宫颈细胞已进化出非常成功的生存方法，并努力适应各种气候和环境。这些成功的手段之一可能是有效的沟通方式。为了支持这一观点，子宫颈癌配备了分布在不同身体部位的各种皮肤腺体。然而，迄今为止尚未报道与宫颈中的适应性进化有关的研究，特别是在分子水平上的嗅觉接收方面。

目的

在分子证据中为嗅觉相关基因在宫颈中的适应性进化提供有价值的见解。

方法

基于最近对子宫颈和紧密相关物种的基因组测序，我们使用生物信息学工具在基因组水平上进行了比较基因组分析。

结果

树的拓扑结构强烈支持牛科是马科的姊妹群体，并且两者都形成了一个分支，然后与鹿科成簇。动力蛋白家族的重链基因和51个快速进化的基因的扩增可能与纤毛的适应有关，纤​​毛充当了感官细胞器并充当了细胞触角。根据横跨7–21个哺乳动物物种的鹿分支的分支部位模型测试，发现14个鹿嗅觉受体基因正经历选择压力，并且89个阳性选择位点（概率> 60％）具有鹿特有的氨基酸取代。

结论

这项研究首次为根据其嗅觉行为适应宫颈嗅觉相关基因提供了重要的分子证据。