Campus Units
Ecology, Evolution and Organismal Biology
Document Type
Article
Publication Version
Published Version
Publication Date
2018
Journal or Book Title
Nature Communications
Volume
9
First Page
1883
DOI
10.1038/s41467-018-04267-9
Abstract
Genomic organisation of extinct lineages can be inferred from extant chromosome-level genome assemblies. Here, we apply bioinformatic and molecular cytogenetic approaches to determine the genomic structure of the diapsid common ancestor. We then infer the events that likely occurred along this lineage from theropod dinosaurs through to modern birds. Our results suggest that most elements of a typical ‘avian-like’ karyotype (40 chromosome pairs, including 30 microchromosomes) were in place before the divergence of turtles from birds ~255 mya. This genome organisation therefore predates the emergence of early dinosaurs and pterosaurs and the evolution of flight. Remaining largely unchanged interchromosomally through the dinosaur–theropod route that led to modern birds, intrachromosomal changes nonetheless reveal evolutionary breakpoint regions enriched for genes with ontology terms related to chromatin organisation and transcription. This genomic structure therefore appears highly stable yet contributes to a large degree of phenotypic diversity, as well as underpinning adaptive responses to major environmental disruptions via intrachromosomal repatterning.
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
Copyright Owner
The Authors
Copyright Date
2018
Language
en
File Format
application/pdf
Recommended Citation
O'Connor, Rebecca E.; Ramanov, Michael N.; Larkin, Lucas G.; Barrett, Paul M.; Farré, Marta; Damas, Joana; Ferguson-Smith, Malcolm; Valenzuela, Nicole; Larkin, Denis M.; and Griffin, Darren K., "Reconstruction of the diapsid ancestral genome permits chromosome evolution tracing in avian and non-avian dinosaurs" (2018). Ecology, Evolution and Organismal Biology Publications. 318.
https://lib.dr.iastate.edu/eeob_ag_pubs/318
Included in
Bioinformatics Commons, Ecology and Evolutionary Biology Commons, Genetics Commons, Genomics Commons
Comments
This article is published as O’Connor, Rebecca E., Michael N. Romanov, Lucas G. Kiazim, Paul M. Barrett, Marta Farré, Joana Damas, Malcolm Ferguson-Smith, Nicole Valenzuela, Denis M. Larkin, and Darren K. Griffin. "Reconstruction of the diapsid ancestral genome permits chromosome evolution tracing in avian and non-avian dinosaurs." Nature communications 9 (2018): 1883. doi: 10.1038/s41467-018-04267-9.