TY - JOUR
T1 - Genome sequence of a diabetes-prone rodent reveals a mutation hotspot around the ParaHox gene cluster
AU - Hargreaves, Adam D.
AU - Zhou, Long
AU - Christensen, Josef
AU - Marlétaz, Ferdinand
AU - Liu, Shiping
AU - Li, Fang
AU - Jansen, Peter Gildsig
AU - Spiga, Enrico
AU - Hansen, Matilde Thye
AU - Pedersen, Signe Vendelbo Horn
AU - Biswas, Shameek
AU - Serikawa, Kyle
AU - Fox, Brian A.
AU - Taylor, William R.
AU - Mulley, John Frederick
AU - Zhang, Guojie
AU - Heller, R. Scott
AU - Holland, Peter W. H.
PY - 2017/7/18
Y1 - 2017/7/18
N2 - The sand rat Psammomys obesus is a gerbil species native to deserts of North Africa and the Middle East, and is constrained in its ecology because high carbohydrate diets induce obesity and type II diabetes that, in extreme cases, can lead to pancreatic failure and death. We report the sequencing of the sand rat genome and discovery of an unusual, extensive, and mutationally biased GC-rich genomic domain. This highly divergent genomic region encompasses several functionally essential genes, and spans the ParaHox cluster which includes the insulin-regulating homeobox gene Pdx1. The sequence of sand rat Pdx1 has been grossly affected by GC-biased mutation, leading to the highest divergence observed for this gene across the Bilateria. In addition to genomic insights into restricted caloric intake in a desert species, the discovery of a localized chromosomal region subject to elevated mutation suggests that mutational heterogeneity within genomes could influence the course of evolution.
AB - The sand rat Psammomys obesus is a gerbil species native to deserts of North Africa and the Middle East, and is constrained in its ecology because high carbohydrate diets induce obesity and type II diabetes that, in extreme cases, can lead to pancreatic failure and death. We report the sequencing of the sand rat genome and discovery of an unusual, extensive, and mutationally biased GC-rich genomic domain. This highly divergent genomic region encompasses several functionally essential genes, and spans the ParaHox cluster which includes the insulin-regulating homeobox gene Pdx1. The sequence of sand rat Pdx1 has been grossly affected by GC-biased mutation, leading to the highest divergence observed for this gene across the Bilateria. In addition to genomic insights into restricted caloric intake in a desert species, the discovery of a localized chromosomal region subject to elevated mutation suggests that mutational heterogeneity within genomes could influence the course of evolution.
KW - Desert rodent
KW - Gene conversion
KW - Homeobox
KW - Pdx1
KW - Type 2 diabetes
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85024394310&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1073/pnas.1702930114
DO - 10.1073/pnas.1702930114
M3 - Journal article
C2 - 28674003
AN - SCOPUS:85024394310
VL - 114
SP - 7677
EP - 7682
JO - Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America
JF - Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America
SN - 0027-8424
IS - 29
ER -