ArticleProceedings. Biological sciences2012
Positive selection at the ASPM gene coincides with brain size enlargements in cetaceans.
Article in Proceedings. Biological sciences, 2012. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 13 papers.
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13 citing papers in PubMed.
- The genomic basis of independent marine transitions in turtles: convergent episodic adaptation and demographic shifts.Molecular biology and evolution · 2026Article
- Olfactory neurogenesis and its role in fear memory modulation.Frontiers in behavioral neuroscience · 2023Review
- Decay ofEcology and evolution · 2022Article
- An Ancient Mutation in theInternational journal of molecular sciences · 2019Article
- Insights into body size variation in cetaceans from the evolution of body-size-related genes.BMC evolutionary biology · 2019Article
- Genetic basis of brain size evolution in cetaceans: insights from adaptive evolution of seven primary microcephaly (MCPH) genes.BMC evolutionary biology · 2017Article
- Evolutionary Genetics of Hypoxia Tolerance in Cetaceans during Diving.Genome biology and evolution · 2016Article
- Neurodevelopmental LincRNA Microsyteny Conservation and Mammalian Brain Size Evolution.PloS one · 2015Article
- Microcephaly genes evolved adaptively throughout the evolution of eutherian mammals.BMC evolutionary biology · 2014Article
- ASPM and mammalian brain evolution: a case study in the difficulty in making macroevolutionary inferences about gene-phenotype associations.Proceedings. Biological sciences · 2014Article
- Comparative genomics of brain size evolution.Frontiers in human neuroscience · 2014Article
- Rod monochromacy and the coevolution of cetacean retinal opsins.PLoS genetics · 2013Article
- Characterization of hairless (Hr) and FGF5 genes provides insights into the molecular basis of hair loss in cetaceans.BMC evolutionary biology · 2013Article
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Abstract
The enlargement of cetacean brain size represents an enigmatic event in mammalian evolution, yet its genetic basis remains poorly explored. One candidate gene associated with brain size evolution is the abnormal spindle-like microcephaly associated (ASPM), as mutations in this gene cause severe reductions in the cortical size of humans. Here, we investigated the ASPM gene in representative cetacean lineages and previously published sequences from other mammals to test whether the expansion of the cetacean brain matched adaptive ASPM evolution patterns. Our analyses yielded significant evidence of positive selection on the ASPM gene during cetacean evolution, especially for the Odontoceti and Delphinoidea lineages. These molecular patterns were associated with two major events of relative brain size enlargement in odontocetes and delphinoids. It is of particular interest to find that positive selection was restricted to cetaceans and primates, two distant lineages both characterized by a massive expansion of brain size. This result is suggestive of convergent molecular evolution, although no site-specific convergence at the amino acid level was found.
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