Related Experiment Video
Updated: Jan 13, 2026

A Pipeline using Bilateral In Utero Electroporation to Interrogate Genetic Influences on Rodent Behavior
Published on: May 21, 2020
Genomic comparisons and the adaptive basis of brain size plasticity and chromosomal instability in the Eurasian
William R Thomas1, Tanya M Lama1,2, Cecilia Baldoni3,4
1Department of Ecology and Evolution, Stony Brook University, Stony Brook, NY 11794, USA.
Abstract:
Sorex araneus, the Eurasian common shrew, has seasonal brain size plasticity (Dehnel's phenomenon) and many intraspecific chromosomal rearrangements. Genomic contributions to these traits, however, remain unknown. We couple a chromosome-scale genome assembly with seasonal brain transcriptomes to discover relationships between molecular evolution and both traits. While Positively Selected Genes (PSGs) enriched the Fanconi anemia DNA repair pathway (FANCI, FAAP100), which is likely involved in chromosomal rearrangements by preventing the accumulation of chromosomal aberrations, genes under positive selection or showing seasonal differential expression in the brain implicate neurogenesis (PCDHA6, SOX9, Notch signaling) and metabolic regulation (VEGFA, SPHK2) as key mechanisms underlying Dehnel's phenomenon. We also find that both positively selected and differentially expressed genes in the hippocampus are overrepresented near S. araneus evolutionary breakpoints. This relates both positive selection and differential expression to accessible chromatin configuration, suggesting that chromosomal rearrangements are integral to adaptive evolution and the regulation of brain size plasticity.
More Related Videos
09:25Lineage Tracing and Clonal Analysis in Developing Cerebral Cortex Using Mosaic Analysis with Double Markers MADM
Published on: May 8, 2020
08:22A Novel Strategy Combining Array-CGH, Whole-exome Sequencing and In Utero Electroporation in Rodents to Identify Causative Genes for Brain Malformations
Published on: December 1, 2017
Related Concept Videos
Synteny and Evolution
Around 80 million years ago, the human and mice lineages diverged from the common ancestor. During the course of evolution, the ancestral...
Evolutionary Relationships through Genome Comparisons
Biological Influences on Intelligence