Runaway GC evolution in gerbil genomes
Recombination increases the local GC-content in genomic regions through GC-biased gene conversion (gBGC). The recent discovery of a large genomic region with extreme GC-content in the fat sand rat Psammomys obesus provides a model to study the effects of gBGC on chromosome evolution. Here, we compar...
| Main Authors: | , , , |
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| Format: | Journal article |
| Language: | English |
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Oxford University Press
2020
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| _version_ | 1826271762642370560 |
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| author | Pracana, R Hargreaves, AD Mulley, JF Holland, PWH |
| author_facet | Pracana, R Hargreaves, AD Mulley, JF Holland, PWH |
| author_sort | Pracana, R |
| collection | OXFORD |
| description | Recombination increases the local GC-content in genomic regions through GC-biased gene conversion (gBGC). The recent discovery of a large genomic region with extreme GC-content in the fat sand rat Psammomys obesus provides a model to study the effects of gBGC on chromosome evolution. Here, we compare the GC-content and GC-to-AT substitution patterns across protein-coding genes of four gerbil species and two murine rodents (mouse and rat). We find that the known high-GC region is present in all the gerbils, and is characterised by high substitution rates for all mutational categories (AT-to-GC, GC-to-AT and GC-conservative) both at synonymous and nonsynonymous sites. A higher AT-to-GC than GC-to-AT rate is consistent with the high GC-content. Additionally, we find more than 300 genes outside the known region with outlying values of AT-to-GC synonymous substitution rates in gerbils. Of these, over 30% are organised into at least 17 large clusters observable at the megabase-scale. The unusual GC-skewed substitution pattern suggests the evolution of genomic regions with very high recombination rates in the gerbil lineage, which can lead to a runaway increase in GC-content. Our results imply that rapid evolution of GC-content is possible in mammals, with gerbil species providing a powerful model to study the mechanisms of gBGC.
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| first_indexed | 2024-03-06T22:01:49Z |
| format | Journal article |
| id | oxford-uuid:4eda4b51-7b90-46a3-8ac1-9e5ba4d76d9b |
| institution | University of Oxford |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-06T22:01:49Z |
| publishDate | 2020 |
| publisher | Oxford University Press |
| record_format | dspace |
| spelling | oxford-uuid:4eda4b51-7b90-46a3-8ac1-9e5ba4d76d9b2022-03-26T16:03:42ZRunaway GC evolution in gerbil genomesJournal articlehttp://purl.org/coar/resource_type/c_dcae04bcuuid:4eda4b51-7b90-46a3-8ac1-9e5ba4d76d9bEnglishSymplectic ElementsOxford University Press2020Pracana, RHargreaves, ADMulley, JFHolland, PWHRecombination increases the local GC-content in genomic regions through GC-biased gene conversion (gBGC). The recent discovery of a large genomic region with extreme GC-content in the fat sand rat Psammomys obesus provides a model to study the effects of gBGC on chromosome evolution. Here, we compare the GC-content and GC-to-AT substitution patterns across protein-coding genes of four gerbil species and two murine rodents (mouse and rat). We find that the known high-GC region is present in all the gerbils, and is characterised by high substitution rates for all mutational categories (AT-to-GC, GC-to-AT and GC-conservative) both at synonymous and nonsynonymous sites. A higher AT-to-GC than GC-to-AT rate is consistent with the high GC-content. Additionally, we find more than 300 genes outside the known region with outlying values of AT-to-GC synonymous substitution rates in gerbils. Of these, over 30% are organised into at least 17 large clusters observable at the megabase-scale. The unusual GC-skewed substitution pattern suggests the evolution of genomic regions with very high recombination rates in the gerbil lineage, which can lead to a runaway increase in GC-content. Our results imply that rapid evolution of GC-content is possible in mammals, with gerbil species providing a powerful model to study the mechanisms of gBGC. |
| spellingShingle | Pracana, R Hargreaves, AD Mulley, JF Holland, PWH Runaway GC evolution in gerbil genomes |
| title | Runaway GC evolution in gerbil genomes |
| title_full | Runaway GC evolution in gerbil genomes |
| title_fullStr | Runaway GC evolution in gerbil genomes |
| title_full_unstemmed | Runaway GC evolution in gerbil genomes |
| title_short | Runaway GC evolution in gerbil genomes |
| title_sort | runaway gc evolution in gerbil genomes |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT pracanar runawaygcevolutioningerbilgenomes AT hargreavesad runawaygcevolutioningerbilgenomes AT mulleyjf runawaygcevolutioningerbilgenomes AT hollandpwh runawaygcevolutioningerbilgenomes |