Elisa Ramos, Giovanna Selleghin-Veiga, Letícia Magpali, Beatriz Daros, Felipe Silva, Agnello Picorelli, Lucas Freitas, Mariana F Nery
The genetic basis underlying adaptive physiological mechanisms has been extensively explored in mammals after colonizing the seas. However, independent lineages of aquatic mammals exhibit complex patterns of secondary colonization in freshwater environments. This change in habitat represents new osmotic challenges, and additional changes in key systems, such as the osmoregulatory system, are expected. Here, we studied the selective regime on coding and regulatory regions of 20 genes related to the osmoregulation system in strict aquatic mammals from independent evolutionary lineages, cetaceans, and sirenians, with representatives in marine and freshwater aquatic environments...
November 27, 2023: Journal of Molecular Evolution