Diversifying selection detected in only a minority of xenobiotic-metabolizing CYP1-3 genes among primate species

From 2003 to 2005 we carried out surveys in Burkina Faso to investigate the status of primate taxa. In the south-west near the border with Côte d'Ivoire we discovered sooty mangabey Cercocebus atys, a primate species that had not been previously reported in the country. This population is the subspecies C. a. lunulatus, the white-naped mangabey, one of the 25 most threatened primate taxa. As the subspecies occurs in a gallery forest that is next to a wildlife safari hunting area, we recommend that hunting is prohibited near these forests. The recent creation of the Warigué protected area, linking the Comoé-Léraba Reserved Forest and Partial Wildlife Reserve in Burkina Faso where we observed the subspecies, with the Comoé National Park in Côte d'Ivoire, could make an important contribution to the survival of this, the northernmost population, of the subspecies.

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Coevolution of theS-Locus GenesSRK,SLGandSP11/SCRinBrassica oleraceaandB. rapa

Genetics ◽

10.1093/genetics/162.2.931 ◽

2002 ◽

Vol 162 (2) ◽

pp. 931-940 ◽

Cited By ~ 9

Author(s):

Keiichi Sato ◽

Takeshi Nishio ◽

Ryo Kimura ◽

Makoto Kusaba ◽

Tohru Suzuki ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Brassica Oleracea ◽

Gene Conversion ◽

Phylogenetic Trees ◽

Hypervariable Region ◽

Recognition System ◽

Self Incompatibility ◽

Male And Female ◽

Diversifying Selection ◽

Tight Linkage ◽

Nonsynonymous Site

AbstractBrassica self-incompatibility (SI) is controlled by SLG and SRK expressed in the stigma and by SP11/SCR expressed in the anther. We determined the sequences of the S domains of 36 SRK alleles, 13 SLG alleles, and 14 SP11 alleles from Brassica oleracea and B. rapa. We found three S haplotypes lacking SLG genes in B. rapa, confirming that SLG is not essential for the SI recognition system. Together with reported sequences, the nucleotide diversities per synonymous and nonsynonymous site (πS and πN) at the SRK, SLG, and SP11 loci within B. oleracea were computed. The ratios of πN:πS for SP11 and the hypervariable region of SRK were significantly >1, suggesting operation of diversifying selection to maintain the diversity of these regions. In the phylogenetic trees of 12 SP11 sequences and their linked SRK alleles, the tree topology was not significantly different between SP11 and SRK, suggesting a tight linkage of male and female SI determinants during the evolutionary course of these haplotypes. Genetic exchanges between SLG and SRK seem to be frequent; three such recent exchanges were detected. The evolution of S haplotypes and the effect of gene conversion on self-incompatibility are discussed.

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A Farewell to the Encephalization Quotient: A New Brain Size Measure for Comparative Primate Cognition

Brain Behavior and Evolution ◽

10.1159/000517013 ◽

2021 ◽

pp. 1-12

Author(s):

Carel P. van Schaik ◽

Zegni Triki ◽

Redouan Bshary ◽

Sandra A. Heldstab

Keyword(s):

Body Size ◽

Cognitive Abilities ◽

Brain Size ◽

Estimation Error ◽

Primate Species ◽

Mammal Species ◽

Mean Values ◽

Encephalization Quotient ◽

Body Sizes ◽

Size Measure

Both absolute and relative brain sizes vary greatly among and within the major vertebrate lineages. Scientists have long debated how larger brains in primates and hominins translate into greater cognitive performance, and in particular how to control for the relationship between the noncognitive functions of the brain and body size. One solution to this problem is to establish the slope of cognitive equivalence, i.e., the line connecting organisms with an identical bauplan but different body sizes. The original approach to estimate this slope through intraspecific regressions was abandoned after it became clear that it generated slopes that were too low by an unknown margin due to estimation error. Here, we revisit this method. We control for the error problem by focusing on highly dimorphic primate species with large sample sizes and fitting a line through the mean values for adult females and males. We obtain the best estimate for the slope of circa 0.27, a value much lower than those constructed using all mammal species and close to the value expected based on the genetic correlation between brain size and body size. We also find that the estimate of cognitive brain size based on cognitive equivalence fits empirical cognitive studies better than the encephalization quotient, which should therefore be avoided in future studies on primates and presumably mammals and birds in general. The use of residuals from the line of cognitive equivalence may change conclusions concerning the cognitive abilities of extant and extinct primate species, including hominins.

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Diffusion MRI data, sulcal anatomy, and tractography for eight species from the Primate Brain Bank

Brain Structure and Function ◽

10.1007/s00429-021-02268-x ◽

2021 ◽

Author(s):

Katherine L. Bryant ◽

Dirk Jan Ardesch ◽

Lea Roumazeilles ◽

Lianne H. Scholtens ◽

Alexandre A. Khrapitchev ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Diffusion Mri ◽

Large Scale ◽

Structural Mri ◽

Relative Volume ◽

Primate Species ◽

Brain Bank ◽

Cingulum Bundle ◽

Primate Brain ◽

Multiple Levels ◽

Comparative Neuroscience

AbstractLarge-scale comparative neuroscience requires data from many species and, ideally, at multiple levels of description. Here, we contribute to this endeavor by presenting diffusion and structural MRI data from eight primate species that have not or rarely been described in the literature. The selected samples from the Primate Brain Bank cover a prosimian, New and Old World monkeys, and a great ape. We present preliminary labelling of the cortical sulci and tractography of the optic radiation, dorsal part of the cingulum bundle, and dorsal parietal–frontal and ventral temporal-frontal longitudinal white matter tracts. Both dorsal and ventral association fiber systems could be observed in all samples, with the dorsal tracts occupying much less relative volume in the prosimian than in other species. We discuss the results in the context of known primate specializations and present hypotheses for further research. All data and results presented here are available online as a resource for the scientific community.

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Identification of retinal ganglion cell types expressing the transcription factor Satb2 in three primate species

The Journal of Comparative Neurology ◽

10.1002/cne.25120 ◽

2021 ◽

Author(s):

Subha Nasir‐Ahmad ◽

Sammy C. S. Lee ◽

Paul R. Martin ◽

Ulrike Grünert

Keyword(s):

Transcription Factor ◽

Ganglion Cell ◽

Retinal Ganglion Cell ◽

Cell Types ◽

Primate Species ◽

Retinal Ganglion

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Molecular evolutionary analysis of human primary microcephaly genes

BMC Ecology and Evolution ◽

10.1186/s12862-021-01801-0 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 21 (1) ◽

Author(s):

Nashaiman Pervaiz ◽

Hongen Kang ◽

Yiming Bao ◽

Amir Ali Abbasi

Keyword(s):

Evolutionary History ◽

Genetic Basis ◽

Brain Size ◽

Primate Species ◽

Evolutionary Analysis ◽

Australopithecus Afarensis ◽

Primary Microcephaly ◽

Modern Humans ◽

History Of ◽

The Brain

Abstract Background There has been a rapid increase in the brain size relative to body size during mammalian evolutionary history. In particular, the enlarged and globular brain is the most distinctive anatomical feature of modern humans that set us apart from other extinct and extant primate species. Genetic basis of large brain size in modern humans has largely remained enigmatic. Genes associated with the pathological reduction of brain size (primary microcephaly-MCPH) have the characteristics and functions to be considered ideal candidates to unravel the genetic basis of evolutionary enlargement of human brain size. For instance, the brain size of microcephaly patients is similar to the brain size of Pan troglodyte and the very early hominids like the Sahelanthropus tchadensis and Australopithecus afarensis. Results The present study investigates the molecular evolutionary history of subset of autosomal recessive primary microcephaly (MCPH) genes; CEP135, ZNF335, PHC1, SASS6, CDK6, MFSD2A, CIT, and KIF14 across 48 mammalian species. Codon based substitutions site analysis indicated that ZNF335, SASS6, CIT, and KIF14 have experienced positive selection in eutherian evolutionary history. Estimation of divergent selection pressure revealed that almost all of the MCPH genes analyzed in the present study have maintained their functions throughout the history of placental mammals. Contrary to our expectations, human-specific adoptive evolution was not detected for any of the MCPH genes analyzed in the present study. Conclusion Based on these data it can be inferred that protein-coding sequence of MCPH genes might not be the sole determinant of increase in relative brain size during primate evolutionary history.

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Palaeoecological differences underlie rare co-occurrence of Miocene European primates

BMC Biology ◽

10.1186/s12915-020-00939-5 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 19 (1) ◽

Author(s):

Daniel DeMiguel ◽

Laura Domingo ◽

Israel M. Sánchez ◽

Isaac Casanovas-Vilar ◽

Josep M. Robles ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Abiotic Factors ◽

Sampling Bias ◽

Tooth Wear ◽

Primate Species ◽

Strongly Correlated ◽

Carbon And Oxygen Isotope ◽

Gallery Forests ◽

Miocene Hominoids ◽

Palaeoenvironmental Changes ◽

Main Factor

Abstract Background The two main primate groups recorded throughout the European Miocene, hominoids and pliopithecoids, seldom co-occur. Due to both their rarity and insufficiently understood palaeoecology, it is currently unclear whether the infrequent co-occurrence of these groups is due to sampling bias or reflects different ecological preferences. Here we rely on the densely sampled primate-bearing sequence of Abocador de Can Mata (ACM) in Spain to test whether turnovers in primate assemblages are correlated with palaeoenvironmental changes. We reconstruct dietary evolution through time (ca. 12.6–11.4 Ma), and hence climate and habitat, using tooth-wear patterns and carbon and oxygen isotope compositions of enamel of the ubiquitous musk-deer Micromeryx. Results Our results reveal that primate species composition is strongly correlated with distinct environmental phases. Large-bodied hominoids (dryopithecines) are recorded in humid, densely-forested environments on the lowermost portion of the ACM sequence. In contrast, pliopithecoids inhabited less humid, patchy ecosystems, being replaced by dryopithecines and the small-bodied Pliobates toward the top of the series in gallery forests embedded in mosaic environments. Conclusions These results support the view that pliopithecoid primates preferred less humid habitats than hominoids, and reveal that differences in behavioural ecology were the main factor underpinning their rare co-occurrence during the European Miocene. Our findings further support that ACM hominoids, like Miocene apes as a whole, inhabited more seasonal environments than extant apes. Finally, this study highlights the importance of high-resolution, local investigations to complement larger-scale analyses and illustrates that continuous and densely sampled fossiliferous sequences are essential for deciphering the complex interplay between biotic and abiotic factors that shaped past diversity.

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