| Title: | First evidence for functional vomeronasal 2 receptor genes in primates |
| Author(s): | Hohenbrink P; Mundy NI; Zimmermann E; Radespiel U; |
| Address: | "Institute of Zoology, University of Veterinary Medicine, Hanover, Germany. philipp.hohenbrink@tiho-hannover.de" |
| ISSN/ISBN: | 1744-957X (Electronic) 1744-9561 (Print) 1744-9561 (Linking) |
| Abstract: | "Two classes of vomeronasal receptor genes, V1R and V2R, occur in vertebrates. Whereas, V1R loci are found in a wide variety of mammals, including primates, intact V2R genes have thus far only been described in rodents and marsupials. In primates, the V2R repertoire has been considered degenerate. Here, we identify for the first time two intact V2R loci in a strepsirrhine primate, the grey mouse lemur (Microcebus murinus), and demonstrate their expression in the vomeronasal organ. Putatively functional orthologues are present in two other strepsirrhines, whereas, both loci are pseudogenes in a range of anthropoid species. The functional significance of the loci is unknown, but positive selection on one of them is consistent with an adaptive role in pheromone detection. Finally, conservation of V2R loci in strepsirrhines is notable, given their high diversity and role in MUP and MHC detection in rodents" |
| Keywords: | "Animals Cheirogaleidae/genetics/metabolism DNA, Complementary/genetics/metabolism *Gene Expression Regulation Male Molecular Sequence Data Polymerase Chain Reaction Primates/*genetics/*metabolism RNA/genetics Receptors, Pheromone/*genetics/*metabolism *Se;" |
| Notes: | "MedlineHohenbrink, Philipp Mundy, Nicholas I Zimmermann, Elke Radespiel, Ute eng Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't England 2012/12/28 Biol Lett. 2012 Dec 26; 9(1):20121006. doi: 10.1098/rsbl.2012.1006. Print 2013 Feb 23" |
