TY - JOUR

T1 - Gene loss, adaptive evolution and the co-evolution of plumage coloration genes with opsins in birds

AU - Borges, R.

AU - Khan, I.

AU - Johnson, W.E.

AU - Gilbert, M.T.P.

AU - Zhang, G.

AU - Jarvis, E.D.

AU - O'Brien, S.J.

AU - Antunes, A.

PY - 2015

Y1 - 2015

N2 - © 2015 Borges et al.Background: The wide range of complex photic systems observed in birds exemplifies one of their key evolutionary adaptions, a well-developed visual system. However, genomic approaches have yet to be used to disentangle the evolutionary mechanisms that govern evolution of avian visual systems. Results: We performed comparative genomic analyses across 48 avian genomes that span extant bird phylogenetic diversity to assess evolutionary changes in the 17 representatives of the opsin gene family and five plumage coloration genes. Our analyses suggest modern birds have maintained a repertoire of up to 15 opsins. Synteny analyses indicate that PARA and PARIE pineal opsins were lost, probably in conjunction with the degeneration of the parietal organ. Eleven of the 15 avian opsins evolved in a non-neutral pattern, confirming the adaptive importance of vision in birds. Visual conopsins sw1, sw2 and lw evolved under negative selection, while the dim-light RH1 photopigment diversified. The evolutiona

AB - © 2015 Borges et al.Background: The wide range of complex photic systems observed in birds exemplifies one of their key evolutionary adaptions, a well-developed visual system. However, genomic approaches have yet to be used to disentangle the evolutionary mechanisms that govern evolution of avian visual systems. Results: We performed comparative genomic analyses across 48 avian genomes that span extant bird phylogenetic diversity to assess evolutionary changes in the 17 representatives of the opsin gene family and five plumage coloration genes. Our analyses suggest modern birds have maintained a repertoire of up to 15 opsins. Synteny analyses indicate that PARA and PARIE pineal opsins were lost, probably in conjunction with the degeneration of the parietal organ. Eleven of the 15 avian opsins evolved in a non-neutral pattern, confirming the adaptive importance of vision in birds. Visual conopsins sw1, sw2 and lw evolved under negative selection, while the dim-light RH1 photopigment diversified. The evolutiona

U2 - 10.1186/s12864-015-1924-3

DO - 10.1186/s12864-015-1924-3

M3 - Article

SP - None

JO - BMC Genomics

JF - BMC Genomics

SN - 1471-2164

IS - 1

ER -