Expansions and contractions in gene families of independently-evolved blood-feeding insects

Autor(es)

Freitas, Lucas ^{[1, 2]} ; Nery, Mariana F. ^[2]

Afiliação do(s) autor(es)

^[1] Queen Mary Univ London, Sch Biol & Chem Sci, London - England

^[2] Univ Estadual Campinas, Inst Biol, Dept Genet Evolucao Microbiol & Imunol, Lab Genom Evolut, Rua Bertrand Russell S-N, Cidade Univ, Bloco H, Campinas, SP - Brazil

• Tipo de documento: Artigo Científico
• Fonte: BMC Evolutionary Biology; v. 20, n. 1 JUL 17 2020.
• Citações Web of Science: 0

Resumo

Background The blood-feeding behavior evolved multiple times in Insecta lineages and it represents an excellent opportunity to study patterns of convergent molecular evolution regarding this habit. In insects the expansion of some gene families is linked with blood-feeding behavior, but a wide study comparing the evolution of these gene families among different lineages is still missing. Here we gathered genomic data from six independently-evolved hematophagous lineages, aiming to identify convergent expansions and/or contractions of gene families in hematophagous lineages of insects. Results We found four rapidly evolving gene families shared by at least two hematophagous independently-evolved lineages, including a heat-shock and a chemosensory protein. On the expression of these four rapidly evolving gene families we found more genes expressed in mated individuals compared with virgin individuals in rapidly-expanded families and more genes expressed in non-blood-feeding individuals compared with blood-feeding individuals in rapidly-contracted families. Conclusion Our results reveal a new set of candidate genes to be explored in further analysis to help the development of new strategies to deal with blood-feeding vectors and also presents a new perspective to study the evolution of hematophagy identifying convergent molecular patterns. (AU)

• Processo FAPESP: 17/25058-2 - Evolução adaptativa convergente de genes relacionados à hematofagia em Insecta
• Beneficiário: Lucas Araujo Freitas
• Modalidade de apoio: Bolsas no Brasil - Pós-Doutorado
• Processo FAPESP: 18/19682-8 - Aspectos teóricos de evolução molecular adaptativa e convergente e suas aplicações em genômica comparada
• Beneficiário: Lucas Araujo Freitas
• Modalidade de apoio: Bolsas no Exterior - Estágio de Pesquisa - Pós-Doutorado
• Processo FAPESP: 15/18269-1 - Usando genômica comparativa para entender a evolução convergente de mamíferos: em busca das pegadas moleculares da ocupação do ambiente marinho e fluvial
• Beneficiário: Mariana Freitas Nery
• Modalidade de apoio: Auxílio à Pesquisa - Jovens Pesquisadores