2015 Fiscal Year Final Research Report
Analysis of the genome evolution by gene duplication using olfactory receptor gene families
| Project/Area Number |
23770271
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| Research Category |
Grant-in-Aid for Young Scientists (B)
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| Allocation Type | Multi-year Fund |
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| Research Field |
Evolutionary biology
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| Research Institution | The University of Tokyo (2013-2015)
Tokyo Medical and Dental University (2011-2012) |
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Principal Investigator |
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| Project Period (FY) |
2011-04-28 – 2016-03-31
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| Keywords | 嗅覚受容体 / 化学感覚 / 遺伝子ファミリー / 比較ゲノム / 分子進化 / 哺乳類の進化 |
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| Outline of Final Research Achievements |
Olfaction is essential for the survival of many animals. The ability to distinguish different odors depends on the number and type of olfactory receptors (ORs) present in each organism’s genome. In this project, we examined the OR genes encoded in 13 mammalian species’ genomes and found that African elephants have a surprisingly large number of OR genes, with approximately 2,000. This number is by far the largest among ever characterized. We also invented a novel bioinformatic method to trace the evolutionary trajectories of individual OR genes, and examined their duplications and losses in each species. We then discovered three OR genes that are evolutionarily stable for 100 million years without any duplications and losses and with very little change in sequence. Suggestively, these receptors would have physiologically important functions common to every mammal beyond the detection of odors.
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| Free Research Field |
分子進化、比較ゲノム、嗅覚
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