Molecular adaptation during a rapid adaptive radiation
Date
2013
Authors
Kapralov, Maxim
Votintseva, Antonina A.
Filatov, D.A.
Journal Title
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Volume Title
Publisher
Society for Molecular Biology Evolution
Abstract
Explosive adaptive radiations on islands remain one of the most puzzling evolutionary phenomena and the evolutionary genetic processes behind such radiations remain unclear. Rapid morphological and ecological evolution during island radiations suggests that many genes may be under fairly strong selection, although this remains untested. Here, we report that during a rapid recent diversification in the Hawaiian endemic plant genus Schiedea (Caryophyllaceae), 5 in 36 studied genes evolved under positive selection. Positively selected genes are involved in defence mechanisms, photosynthesis, and reproduction. Comparison with eight mainland plant groups demonstrates both the relaxation of purifying selection and more widespread positive selection in Hawaiian Schiedea. This provides compelling evidence that adaptive evolution of protein-coding genes may play a significant role during island adaptive radiations.
Description
Keywords
Keywords: adaptive radiation; amino acid sequence; article; Caryophyllaceae; chloroplast gene; codon; controlled study; gene mutation; gene sequence; molecular phylogeny; nonhuman; nucleotide sequence; photosynthesis; plant reproduction; polymerase chain reaction; adaptive radiation; Hawaiian Islands; positive selection; relaxation of purifying selection; Schiedea
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Source
Molecular Biology and Evolution
Type
Journal article
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2037-12-31