Evolutionary Relationships among Rodents: Comments and Conclusions

Luckett, W. Patrick; Hartenberger, Jean-Louis

doi:10.1007/978-1-4899-0539-0_27

Cited by 87 publications

(77 citation statements)

References 17 publications

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“…3). Together these nine aA sequences represent the major groups among the -32 rodent families (28). From Fig.…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 93%

“…Subsequent thermolytic digestion of these peptides revealed that the differences were due to the replacements leucine-90-*glutamine and leucine-129--valine in gundi as well as valine-3-*isoleucine, alanine-135--+valine, and glutamine-147--*proline in beaver aA-crystallin (data not shown). The branching pattern of this tree is based on a current consensus about rodent relationships, as inferred from the most recent multidisciplinary evidence (28), apart from the joining of springhaas to the gundi/guinea pig branch, which is solely based on the shared replacement leucine-90-.glutamine. This is, however, a weak indicator for common ancestry because this replacement and vice versa occur repeatedly in several mammalian orders (10).…”

Section: S G L D a G H S E R A I P V S Q E E K P S S A P L F Stop-codonmentioning

confidence: 99%

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The lens protein alpha A-crystallin of the blind mole rat, Spalax ehrenbergi: evolutionary change and functional constraints.

Hendriks¹,

Leunissen²,

Nevo³

et al. 1987

Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A.

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The complete structure of the single-copy aA-crystallin gene of the blind mole rat (Spalax ehrenbergi) has been determined in order to elucidate the evolutionary effects of the loss of vision on a lens-specific protein and its gene. The aA-crystallin gene appears to have all the necessary transcriptional and translational signal sequences to be expressed in the rudimentary lens of the mole rat and gives rise to probably two protein products by means of alternative splicing, as in rodents with normal vision. Comparisons of the blind mole rat aAcrystallin sequence with aA sequences from other rodents reveal a considerable acceleration of the substitution rate at nonsynonymous positions in the mole rat lineage, which reflects a relaxation of selective constraints, but the acceleration is not to the extent that might be expected if the gene were now without any function. The remaining evolutionary constraints still imposed upon the mole rat aA-crystallin gene may possibly reflect the need for a-crystallin expression as an indispensable component in the developmental program of the atrophied eye.Functional constraints working at the protein level are recognized as a major determinant of the rate of molecular evolution (1-3). Although several well-known examples clearly seem to illustrate this principle, such as the fastevolving fibrinopeptides versus the conserved histones (4), the structure-function relationships of most proteins are, in fact, not understood in sufficient detail to reliably correlate functional constraint with rate of evolution. This difficulty may also hamper the clear distinction of other types of constraints, such as amino acid composition (5), transcriptional and translational requirements (6), and developmental programs (7,8). The existence and importance of these additional selective forces might be revealed by studying genes whose protein products have lost their normal principal function in the course of evolution. The substitution rate of such a gene would be expected to increase and might eventually become as fast as in pseudogenes unless other constraints interfere. A unique opportunity for such a study is offered by the rudimentary eyes of blind vertebrate species. The eye-specific genes of these animals are no longer subject to the selective constraints associated with the maintenance of vision.The eye lens protein a-crystallin is very suitable for this purpose because much comparative and evolutionary data are available (9-11). a-Crystallin is a slowly evolving protein (10), and, thus, relaxation of constraints should be readily detectable. An important advantage, too, is the fact that the atA and aB subunits, of which at-crystallin is composed, are both encoded by single-copy genes located on different chromosomes (12). The aA and aB chains have =57% sequence homology, due to an ancient gene duplication (10), and conspicuous sequence similarity with the small heat shock proteins indicates that the ancestral ca-crystallin gene originated from this protein family (13,14). aA-Cry...

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“…3). Together these nine aA sequences represent the major groups among the -32 rodent families (28). From Fig.…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 93%

Section: S G L D a G H S E R A I P V S Q E E K P S S A P L F Stop-codonmentioning

confidence: 99%

The lens protein alpha A-crystallin of the blind mole rat, Spalax ehrenbergi: evolutionary change and functional constraints.

Hendriks¹,

Leunissen²,

Nevo³

et al. 1987

Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A.

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“…Based on a large body of morphological evidence, the order Rodentia, containing approximately half of all mammalian species (1), has been subdivided into two suborders (2). The Sciurognathi include true rats, mice, hamsters, and squirrellike rodents, while the Hystricognathi, also representing a group of Old and New World rodent families, are now primarily restricted to Africa and South America.…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

Neural BC1 RNA as an evolutionary marker: guinea pig remains a rodent.

Martignetti

Brosius

1993

Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A.

102

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The traditional morphologicaily grounded placement of South American guinea pig-like rodents (Caviomorpha) within one of the two rodent suborders, Hystricognathi, has been disputed by recent analysis of protein and nucleic acid sequence data. The Caviomorpha and possibly all Hystricognathi would be considered a separate order, distinct from the other rodent suborder, Sciurognathi, and thus of the order Rodentia, and would be placed closer phylogenetically to other mammals [Graur, D., Hide, W. A. & Li, W.-H. (1991) Nature (London) 351,[649][650][651][652]. To address the discrepancy between morphological comparisons and sequence analyses, we have applied an alternative form of molecular analysis. We demonstrate that BC1 RNA, a neural-specific small cytoplasmic RNA that is the product of a retropositionally generated gene (a gene derived by reverse transcription of RNA followed by insertion of the DNA copy into the genome), is present in Sciurognathi and guinea pig but not in other mammalian orders including Lagomorpha, Artiodactyla, and Primates.The species:confined, tissue-specific expression of a retroposed sequence therefore supports the morphological evidence for monophyly of Rodentia inclusive of guinea pig and demonstrates the usefulness of such molecular genetic markers. Furthermore, the conservation and tissue-specific expression of the BC1 RNA gene in the two divergent rodent suborders suggests that this macromolecule has been exapted into a functional role (i.e., coopted into a variant or novel function) in the rodent nervous system. Based on a large body of morphological evidence, the order Rodentia, containing approximately half of all mammalian species (1), has been subdivided into two suborders (2). The Sciurognathi include true rats, mice, hamsters, and squirrellike rodents, while the Hystricognathi, also representing a group of Old and New World rodent families, are now primarily restricted to Africa and South America. Examples of this diverse suborder include guinea pig, chinchilla, and porcupine. However, challenging this morphologically established phylogenetic scheme of Rodentia is an apparent "molecular paradox"-namely, most guinea pig protein and nucleic acid sequences exhibit an unusually high level of dissimilarity when compared with their rodent orthologues (refs. 3-5, but also see ref. 6).A recently proposed solution (7, 8) would define Caviomorpha and possibly the entire suborder Hystricognathi as a separate mammalian order distinct from Rodentia. Unfortunately, the proposal of a separate order addresses the molecular data but leads to incongruence with paleontological information and anatomical data (9). Thus, well-established morphological synapomorphies between Sciurognathi and Hystricognathi would be reinterpreted as homoplasies (10). Furthermore, the molecular evidence underlying this exThe publication costs of this article were defrayed in part by page charge payment. This article must therefore be hereby marked "advertisement" in accordance with 18 U.S.C. §1734 solely to ...

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“…Two suborders of rodents (Sciurognathi and Hystricognathi) are sometimes recognized based on the morphology of the ventral border of the lower jaw [Tullberg, 1899;Landry, 1957Landry, , 1999Lavocat, 1974;Wood, 1974]. Although the Hystricognathi may be monophyletic [Luckett and Hartenberger, 1985;Huchon et al, 2002;Meng et al, 2003], the anatomical conditions of hystricomorphy, myomorphy, and sciuromorphy have all evolved more than once [Lavocat, 1974;Wood, 1974;Luckett and Hartenberger, 1985;VianeyLiaud, 1985;Thorington and Darrow, 1996;Hartenberger, 1985;Nedbal et al, 1996;Huchon et al, 2000;Meng et al, 2003;Adkins et al, 2001].…”

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confidence: 99%

Functional Anatomy of Incisal Biting in <i>Aplodontia rufa</i> and Sciuromorph Rodents – Part 1: Masticatory Muscles, Skull Shape and Digging

Druzinsky¹

2010

Cells Tissues Organs

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Traditionally, rodents have been grouped into suborders distinguished largely on the basis of characteristics of the jaw adductor muscles and other features of the masticatory apparatus. The three classic suborders are: Sciuromorpha (squirrels), Myomorpha (rats and mice), and Hystricomorpha (porcupines and the South American caviomorph rodents). Protrogomorph rodents are thought to represent the primitive condition of rodent masticatory muscles. Aplodontia rufa, the mountain beaver, is the only living protrogomorphous rodent. The present work is a detailed comparison of the masticatory apparatus in A. rufa and Marmota monax, the woodchuck. But the mandibular region of A. rufa appears remarkable, unlike anything found in other rodents. Is A. rufa a reasonable representative of the primitive, protrogomorphous condition? A.rufa is a member of the aplodontoid-sciuroid clade with a wide and flat skull. The large temporalis and mandibular apophyses of A. rufa are features related to its relatively wide skull. Such features are found in less dramatic forms in other sciuromorphous species and the basic arrangement of the masticatory muscles of A. rufa is similar to the arrangement seen in sciuromorphs.

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Evolutionary Relationships among Rodents: Comments and Conclusions

Cited by 87 publications

References 17 publications

The lens protein alpha A-crystallin of the blind mole rat, Spalax ehrenbergi: evolutionary change and functional constraints.

The lens protein alpha A-crystallin of the blind mole rat, Spalax ehrenbergi: evolutionary change and functional constraints.

Neural BC1 RNA as an evolutionary marker: guinea pig remains a rodent.

Functional Anatomy of Incisal Biting in <i>Aplodontia rufa</i> and Sciuromorph Rodents – Part 1: Masticatory Muscles, Skull Shape and Digging

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