Convergent sequence evolution between echolocating bats and dolphins.
Cases of convergent evolution - where different lineages have evolved similar traits independently - are common and have proven central to our understanding of selection. Yet convincing examples of adaptive convergence at the sequence level are exceptionally rare [1]. The motor protein Prestin is expressed in mammalian outer hair cells (OHCs) and is thought to confer high frequency sensitivity and selectivity in the mammalian auditory system [2]. We previously reported that the Prestin gene has undergone sequence convergence among unrelated lineages of echolocating bat [3]. Here we report that this gene has also undergone convergent amino acid substitutions in echolocating dolphins, which group with echolocating bats in a phylogenetic tree of Prestin. Furthermore, we find evidence that these changes were driven by natural selection.
Liu
Yang
Y
School of Life Sciences, East China Normal University, Shanghai 200062, China.
Cotton
James A
JA
Shen
Bin
B
Han
Xiuqun
X
Rossiter
Stephen J
SJ
Zhang
Shuyi
S
D000818:Animals; D005075:Biological Evolution; D002685:Chiroptera / Q000235:genetics* / Q000502:physiology; D004289:Dolphins / Q000235:genetics* / Q000502:physiology; D004455:Echolocation