ArticleNature communications2018
A genomics approach reveals insights into the importance of gene losses for mammalian adaptations.
Article in Nature communications, 2018. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. An erratum has been issued. Cited by 131 papers, 2 of them syntheses that pooled it.
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Who cites it
131 citing papers in PubMed, 2 syntheses or guidelines pooled it.
- Pooled it
- Effect direction meta-analysis of GWAS identifies extreme, prevalent and shared pleiotropy in a large mammal.Communications biology · 2020Pooled it
- Lack of Evidence for Gene-Level Convergence Linked to Evolutionary Shifts in Torpor Among Placental Mammals.Genome biology and evolution · 2026Article
- A pangenome framework uncovers the role of deletions in repeated evolution of cave-derived traits.Genome research · 2026Article
- Convergent latitudinal erosion of circadian systems in a rapidly diversifying order of fishes.PLoS genetics · 2026Article
- The genetic foundations of convergent traits.Nature reviews. Genetics · 2026Review
- Lineage-Specific Gene Family Innovations Underpin the Pathogenicity of Woody-Plant Pathogens in Botryosphaeriaceae.Genome biology and evolution · 2026Article
- Comparative Genomics Reveals Recurrent Loss ofGenes · 2026Article
- Functional insights into dispensable genes using genome-wide loss-of-function burden tests in Arabidopsis.The Plant cell · 2026Article
- Chromosomal rearrangements and segmental deletions contribute to gene loss in squamates.BMC biology · 2026Article
- Phylogenomic Approaches to Study Adaptive Evolution in Mammals: From Aging to Aquatic Lifestyles.Annual review of genetics · 2025Review
- Hemipteran insects experience recurrent and synergistic molecular evolution adapting to diet shift.BMC biology · 2025Article
- Cetacean loss of the master adipose tissue regulator βNature communications · 2025Article
- Linking phenotype to genotype using comprehensive genomic comparisons.Current opinion in genetics & development · 2025Review
- Evolution of the Jawed Vertebrate (Gnathostomata) Stomach Through Gene Repertoire Loss: Findings from Agastric Species.Journal of developmental biology · 2025Article
- Illuminating the mystery of thylacine extinction: a role for relaxed selection and gene loss.Proceedings. Biological sciences · 2025Article
- Variation in accessory and horizontal gene transfer-associated genes drives lucinid endosymbiont diversity.FEMS microbiology ecology · 2025Article
- The evolutionary path of the epithelial sodium channel δ-subunit in Cetartiodactyla points to a role in sodium sensing.Communications biology · 2025Article
- Article
- Genomic signatures associated with the evolutionary loss of egg yolk in parasitoid wasps.Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America · 2025Article
71 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.
Corrections and comments
- Erratum issued
Authors and funding
6 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
Identifying the genomic changes that underlie phenotypic adaptations is a key challenge in evolutionary biology and genomics. Loss of protein-coding genes is one type of genomic change with the potential to affect phenotypic evolution. Here, we develop a genomics approach to accurately detect gene losses and investigate their importance for adaptive evolution in mammals. We discover a number of gene losses that likely contributed to morphological, physiological, and metabolic adaptations in aquatic and flying mammals. These gene losses shed light on possible molecular and cellular mechanisms that underlie these adaptive phenotypes. In addition, we show that gene loss events that occur as a consequence of relaxed selection following adaptation provide novel insights into species' biology. Our results suggest that gene loss is an evolutionary mechanism for adaptation that may be more widespread than previously anticipated. Hence, investigating gene losses has great potential to reveal the genomic basis underlying macroevolutionary changes.
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