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Mol Biol Evol

Title:		"Positive selection during the diversification of class I vomeronasal receptor-like (V1RL) genes, putative pheromone receptor genes, in human and primate evolution"
Author(s):		Mundy NI; Cook S;
Address:		"Institute of Biological Anthropology, University of Oxford, Oxford, England. nim21@cam.ac.uk"
Journal Title:		Mol Biol Evol
Year:		2003
Volume:		20030627
Issue:		11
Page Number:		1805 - 1810
DOI:		10.1093/molbev/msg192
ISSN/ISBN:		0737-4038 (Print) 0737-4038 (Linking)
Abstract:		"Vomeronasal receptors are the major receptors for pheromones in vertebrates, and five putative type 1 vomeronasal receptors (V1RL) have been identified in humans. The evolution of the V1RL1 gene in non-human primates, and patterns of selection on V1RL genes, were investigated. The presumed ortholog of V1RL1 was sequenced from 13 species of nonhuman primate, and in eight of these species V1RL1 was a pseudogene. Phylogenetic reconstructions reveal that V1RL1 pseudogene formation occurred independently in multiple primate lineages. Using maximum likelihood estimates of dN/dS ratios in PAML, we show that V1RL genes have evolved under neutral evolution in lineages in which they became a pseudogene. In contrast, among lineages in which V1RL genes contain an open reading frame, the majority of sites are under purifying selection and a minority are under significant positive selection. These results provide an interesting case where all three categories of selection can be teased apart in the same data set using maximum likelihood methods. The finding of positive selection on V1RL genes during primate evolution provides indirect support for the hypothesis that V1RL genes have a function in species-specific pheromone detection in primates"
Keywords:		"Amino Acid Sequence Animals Biological Evolution Chemotactic Factors/*biosynthesis/*genetics Evolution, Molecular Exons Hominidae Humans Likelihood Functions Models, Genetic Molecular Sequence Data Open Reading Frames Phylogeny Polymerase Chain Reaction P;"
Notes:		"MedlineMundy, Nicholas I Cook, Shelley eng Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't 2003/07/02 Mol Biol Evol. 2003 Nov; 20(11):1805-10. doi: 10.1093/molbev/msg192. Epub 2003 Jun 27"