RT Journal Article
T1 Multi-tissue transcriptomes of caecilian amphibians highlight incomplete knowledge of vertebrate gene families
A1 Torres-Sánchez, María
A1 Creevey, Christopher J.
A1 Kornobis, Etienne
A1 Gower, David J.
A1 Wilkinson, Mark
A1 San Mauro, Diego
AB RNA sequencing (RNA-seq) has become one of the most powerful tools to unravel the genomic basis of biological adaptation & diversity. Although challenging, RNA-seq is particularly promising for research on non-model, secretive species that cannot be observed in nature easily and therefore remain comparatively understudied. Among such animals, the caecilians (order Gymnophiona) likely constitute the least known group of vertebrates, despite being an old and remarkably distinct lineage of amphibians. Here, we characterize multi-tissue transcriptomes for five species of caecilians that represent a broad level of diversity across the order. We identified vertebrate homologous elements of caecilian functional genes of varying tissue specificity that reveal a great number of unclassified gene families, especially for the skin. We annotated several protein domains for those unknown candidate gene families to investigate their function. We also conducted supertree analyses of a phylogenomic dataset of 1,955 candidate orthologous genes among five caecilian species and other major lineages of vertebrates, with the inferred tree being in agreement with current views of vertebrate evolution and systematics. Our study provides insights into the evolution of vertebrate protein-coding genes, and a basis for future research on the molecular elements underlying the particular biology and adaptations of caecilian amphibians.
PB Oxford University Press
SN 1756-1663
YR 2019
FD 2019-02-01
LK https://hdl.handle.net/20.500.14352/13548
UL https://hdl.handle.net/20.500.14352/13548
LA eng
NO Ministerio de Economía y Competitividad (MINECO)
NO Network of research laboratories working on adaptation genomics (AdaptNET)
DS Docta Complutense
RD 11 may 2025