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Functional Effects of a Retained Ancestral Polymorphism in Prestin
Yuan-Yuan Li1,2, Zhen Liu3, Fei-Yan Qi1
1State Key Laboratory of Genetic Resources and Evolution, Kunming Institute of Zoology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Kunming, China.
Molecular Biology and Evolution
|October 17, 2016
Summary
Molecular adaptations for echolocation in bats involve the prestin protein. A specific amino acid change (serine at position 308) in frequency-modulated bats suggests hemiplasy, not convergence, impacting our understanding of echolocation evolution.
Area of Science:
- Evolutionary biology
- Molecular biology
- Bioacoustics
Background:
- Echolocation, the biological sonar used by bats and toothed whales, relies on sophisticated auditory adaptations.
- Previous research suggested convergent evolution in the prestin gene, crucial for high-frequency hearing, between these diverse echolocating mammals.
- Understanding the molecular basis of echolocation provides insights into sensory system evolution.
Discussion:
- This study investigates the prestin gene's role in bats using frequency-modulated (FM) echolocation calls.
- Despite a paraphyletic species tree for FM bats, similar functional changes in prestin were observed.
- Site-directed mutagenesis identified serine at amino acid position 308 as responsible for these functional changes.
Key Insights:
- The similar functional changes in prestin among FM bats are attributed to hemiplasy, stemming from incomplete lineage sorting of an ancestral polymorphism.
- This finding challenges the inference of molecular convergence solely based on similar functional traits in rapidly radiating species.
- The specific amino acid 308S in prestin is a key molecular marker for echolocation adaptations in bats.
Outlook:
- Further research should explore the prevalence of hemiplasy in other rapidly evolving traits and lineages.
- Investigating the ancestral state of the 308S polymorphism can clarify its evolutionary trajectory.
- This work provides a refined molecular framework for studying the evolution of sensory systems and echolocation.
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