title: Synthetic biology of phenotypic adaptation in vertebrates: the next frontier.
abstract: For over the last 2 decades, positively selected amino acid sites have been inferred almost exclusively by showing that the number of nonsynonymous substitutions per nonsynonymous site (dn) is greater than that of synonymous substitutions per synonymous site (ds). However, virtually none of these statistical results have been experimentally tested and remain as hypotheses. To perform such experimental tests, we must connect genotype and phenotype and relate the phenotypic changes to the environmental and behavioral changes of the organism. The genotype-phenotype relationship can be established only by synthesizing and manipulating "proper" ancestral phenotypes, whereas the actual functions of adaptive mutations can be learned by studying their chemical roles in phenotypic changes.
authors.affiliation: Department of Biology, Emory University, USA. syokoya@emory.edu
authors.forename: Shozo
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Yokoyama
mesh_terms: D000220:Adaptation, Biological / Q000235:genetics*; D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D019943:Amino Acid Substitution; D000818:Animals; D019143:Evolution, Molecular; D056726:Genetic Association Studies; D010641:Phenotype; D010802:Phylogeny; D010860:Pigments, Biological / Q000235:genetics; D058615:Synthetic Biology; D014714:Vertebrates / Q000235:genetics
chemical_list: D010860:Pigments, Biological
keywords: ancestral phenotypes; molecular adaptation; phenotypic adaptation; visual pigments