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PLoS One

Title:		Divergent evolution among teleost V1r receptor genes
Author(s):		Pfister P; Randall J; Montoya-Burgos JI; Rodriguez I;
Address:		"Department of Zoology and Animal Biology, University of Geneva, Geneva, Switzerland"
Journal Title:		PLoS One
Year:		2007
Volume:		20070418
Issue:		4
Page Number:		e379 -
DOI:		10.1371/journal.pone.0000379
ISSN/ISBN:		1932-6203 (Electronic) 1932-6203 (Linking)
Abstract:		"The survival of vertebrate species is dependent on the ability of individuals to adequately interact with each other, a function often mediated by the olfactory system. Diverse olfactory receptor repertoires are used by this system to recognize chemicals. Among these receptors, the V1rs, encoded by a very large gene family in most mammals, are able to detect pheromones. Teleosts, which also express V1r receptors, possess a very limited V1r repertoire. Here, taking advantage of the possibility to unequivocally identify V1r orthologs in teleosts, we analyzed the olfactory expression and evolutionary constraints of a pair of clustered fish V1r receptor genes, V1r1 and V1r2. Orthologs of the two genes were found in zebrafish, medaka, and threespine stickleback, but a single representative was observed in tetraodontidae species. Analysis of V1r1 and V1r2 sequences from 12 different euteleost species indicate different evolutionary rates between the two paralogous genes, leading to a highly conserved V1r2 gene and a V1r1 gene under more relaxed selective constraint. Moreover, positively-selected sites were detected in specific branches of the V1r1 clade. Our results suggest a conserved agonist specificity of the V1R2 receptor between euteleost species, its loss in the tetraodontidae lineage, and the acquisition of different chemosensory characteristics for the V1R1 receptor"
Keywords:		"5' Untranslated Regions Amino Acid Sequence Animals Base Sequence *Biological Evolution Fishes Molecular Sequence Data Receptors, Odorant/chemistry/*genetics Sequence Homology, Amino Acid Sequence Homology, Nucleic Acid Vomeronasal Organ/*metabolism;"
Notes:		"MedlinePfister, Patrick Randall, Jerome Montoya-Burgos, Juan I Rodriguez, Ivan eng Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't 2007/04/19 PLoS One. 2007 Apr 18; 2(4):e379. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0000379"