#Pseudogenes

Frédéric presented a talk on chitinase gene family evolution at the ALPHY/AIEM meeting

Frederic Delsuc

Mar 15, 2022
1 min

Frédéric presented a talk on chitinase gene family evolution at the ALPHY/AIEM meeting

After two years of virtual meetings, Frédéric was especially delighted to attend the ALPHY/AIEM annual meeting of the evolutionary genomics and bioinformatics French community in Rennes (France). Frédéric exposed our latest results on comparative genomics and transcriptomics of salivary glands to investigate the evolution of the chitinase gene family in placentals. Our results demonstrate that divergent molecular mechanisms underlie convergent adaptation to the ant-eating die

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First publication of the European Reference Genome Atlas (ERGA) consortium

Frederic Delsuc

Jan 23, 2022
1 min

First publication of the European Reference Genome Atlas (ERGA) consortium

As a member of the recently created European Reference Genome Atlas (ERGA), Frédéric participated to the first paper of the consortium published in Trends in Ecology and Evolution (doi:10.1016/j.tree.2021.11.008). The ERGA is a pan-European scientific initiative aimed at generating high-quality complete genome resources for eukaryote species of continental Europe. This first consortium paper highlights the usefulness of producing high-quality complete genome resources in larg

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Chris' new paper on gene loss in the melatonin pathway published in Open Research Europe

Frederic Delsuc

Dec 12, 2021
2 min

Chris' new paper on gene loss in the melatonin pathway published in Open Research Europe

Chris' study on the molecular evolution and loss of function of the genes involved in the melatonin pathway in vertebrates has been published in Open Research Europe (doi:10.12688/openreseurope.13795.1) a new gold open access journal edited by the European Commission with a transparent process of peer-review. In this work, we studied the molecular evolution of genes involved in the synthesis (AANAT, ASMT) and signaling (MTNR1A, MTNR1B) of melatonin, a hormone secreted by the

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Two ConvergeAnt talks presented at the virtual Evolution 2021 meeting

Frederic Delsuc

Jun 25, 2021
2 min

Two ConvergeAnt talks presented at the virtual Evolution 2021 meeting

Chris and Frédéric presented talks at the Virtual Evolution 2021 meeting the annual meeting of the American Society of Naturalists, the Society for the Study of Evolution, and the Society of Systematic Biologists held online because of travel restrictions due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. Chris presented his work on the molecular erosion of tooth-related genes in the xenarthran radiation (armadillos, anteaters, and sloths) showing that independent and distinct events of d

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Book chapter describing the OMM_MACSE pipeline

Frederic Delsuc

Jan 12, 2021
1 min

Book chapter describing the OMM_MACSE pipeline

Together with Vincent Ranwez and Nathalie Chantret, Frédéric participated in the writing of a book chapter on the practical use our multiple alignement program MACSE for protein-coding sequences. This chapter presents a practical overview and guidelines on the use of MACSE v2 and its integration into bioinformatic pipelines for handling large phylogenomic datasets. In particular we provide a detailed description of the OMM_MACSE pipeline that can be used as a singularity cont

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Frederic Delsuc

Feb 28, 2019
1 min

Good bye Kathleen!

Kathleen Garland successfully defended her six-month Master project from the Erasmus Mundus Master Programme in Evolutionary Biology. For her second project with us, Kathleen explored the olfactory capabilities of ant-eating mammals using the cribriform plate as an osteological proxy under the supervision of Sérgio and Lionel. Kath, we wish you all the best for the next steps in her career! #Anteaters #Armadillos #Aardwolf #Aardvark #Master #Students #Genomics #Pseudogenes

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New paper on the molecular evolution and loss of function of the ODAM gene in mammals

Frederic Delsuc

Jan 24, 2019
1 min

New paper on the molecular evolution and loss of function of the ODAM gene in mammals

Chris and Frédéric participated in a study on the molecular evolution and loss of function of the ameloblast-associated gene ODAM in mammals published in BMC Evolutionary Biology (doi:10.1186/s12862-019-1359-6). In this study, we discovered inactivating mutations in the ODAM gene in all species of placental mammals that either lack teeth or lack enamel on their teeth. Surprisingly, ODAM is also inactivated in all toothed whales that were examined. We hypothesize that ODAM ina

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Outreach article in French on the evolution of chitinase genes in placental mammals

Frederic Delsuc

Jan 23, 2019
1 min

Outreach article in French on the evolution of chitinase genes in placental mammals

Frédéric wrote a short scientific outreach article in French in Médecine/Sciences (doi:10.1051/medsci/2018317) giving some general context on our recent study on the evolution of chitinase genes in placental mammals published last year in Science Advances (doi:10.1126/sciadv.aar6478). A first paper in French for Chris! Citation: Delsuc F., Emerling C.A. & Nachman M.W. (2019). Les chitinases, témoins de la radiation des mammifères placentaires. Médecine/Sciences 35:12-15. doi

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Sérgio's first PhD paper published in Current Biology!

Frederic Delsuc

Jan 17, 2019
1 min

Sérgio's first PhD paper published in Current Biology!

So proud of Sérgio's first PhD paper on the evolution of mandibular innervation after tooth regression in placental mammals just published in Current Biology (https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cub.2018.12.023). This paper is the result of countless hours of work by Sergio to segment the numerous micro-CT scans of museum specimens included in this study. Huge congrats! Citation: Ferreira-Cardoso S., Delsuc F. & Hautier L. (2019). Evolutionary tinkering of the mandibular canal linked t

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New updated version of our frameshift-aware alignment MACSE program

Frederic Delsuc

Oct 1, 2018
1 min

New updated version of our frameshift-aware alignment MACSE program

We published an updated and augmented version our multiple alignement program MACSE accounting for frameshifts in protein-coding sequences in Molecular Biology and Evolution (doi.org/10.1093/molbev/msy159). This new MACSE v2 version is enriched by a series of subprograms aimed at facilitating the production and handling of multiple alignments of protein-coding sequences. In order to make the program more accessible, we now provide a graphical user interface (GUI) facilitating

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Frederic Delsuc

Sep 1, 2018
1 min

Au revoir Chris !

After a busy year investigating convergent gene loss and actively gaining some French language skills, Chris is returning to his beloved California. Farewell Chris, we hope you'll come back visiting us regularly, there are so many frameshift mutations still to be discovered in those mammal genomes! #Postdoc #Students #Genomics #Pseudogenes

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The ConvergeAnt team participated to a successful Evolution 2018 Congress in Montpellier (France)

Frederic Delsuc

Aug 23, 2018
2 min

The ConvergeAnt team participated to a successful Evolution 2018 Congress in Montpellier (France)

Members of the ConvergeAnt project participated to Evolution 2018, the 2nd Joint Congress on Evolutionary Biology held in this year in our home town of Montpellier, France, on August 19-22, with a total of five accepted communication abstracts. Kathleen, Mark, Rémi, and Sérgio acted as volunteers and Frédéric was part of both the Scientific and the local Organizing Committees of what was the biggest congress in Evolutionary Biology ever organized with more than 2600 attendees

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Frederic Delsuc

Jun 28, 2018
1 min

Congratulations Kathleen!

Kathleen Garland successfully defended her three-month Master project from the Erasmus Mundus Master Programme in Evolutionary Biology. Kath worked on deciphering the evolution of bitter taste repertoires in placental mammals. We are pleased to have her continuing with us on the ConvergeAnt project for a second project on morphological adaptation next semester. #Anteaters #Armadillos #Aardwolf #Aardvark #Master #Students #Genomics #Pseudogenes

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Study on the evolution of chitinase genes in placental mammals published in Science Advances

Frederic Delsuc

May 16, 2018
1 min

Study on the evolution of chitinase genes in placental mammals published in Science Advances

Our study on the evolution of chitinase genes and pseudogenes in placental mammal genomes is published in Science Advances (doi:10.1126/sciadv.aar6478). The stunning picture of a spectral tarsier kindly provided by Quentin Martinez (http://www.quentinmartinez.com/) to illustrate our study was featured on the journal website and has been also used in numerous press outlets highlighting our results. Citation: Emerling C.A., Delsuc F. & Nachman M.W. (2018). Chitinase genes (CHIA

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Frederic Delsuc

Oct 1, 2017
1 min

Welcome to Rémi Allio!

Rémi Allio joined the ConvergeAnt project as a PhD student following from his Master degree at the University of Montpellier. Rémi's PhD will investigate the extent of convergent molecular evolution among the different lineages of ant-eating mammals for the next three years. He is co-supervised by Frédéric and Benoit. #Anteaters #Armadillos #Aardwolf #Aardvark #Genomics #Pangolins #Pseudogenes #PhD #Students

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Frederic Delsuc

Sep 2, 2017
1 min

Welcome to Chris Emerling!

Chris Emerling from the Nachman Lab at the Museum of Vertebrate Zoology at Berkeley (USA) started his post-doc within the ConvergeAnt project. Chris will be working on patterns of pseudogenization across the mammalian tree for the next two years. #Anteaters #Armadillos #Aardwolf #Aardvark #Genomics #Pangolins #Postdoc #Pseudogenes

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Chris Emerling will join the ConvergeAnt project as a Post-Doc

Frederic Delsuc

Jun 14, 2017
1 min

Chris Emerling will join the ConvergeAnt project as a Post-Doc

Chris Emerling, currently in the Nachman Lab at the Museum of Vertebrate Zoology at Berkeley (USA), has been awarded a post-doc fellowship from the Prestige program and an associated travel support grant from the NSF-ERC agreement. Chris will join the ConvergeAnt team next September to work on patterns of pseudogenization across the mammalian tree. #Anteaters #Armadillos #Aardwolf #Aardvark #Genomics #Pangolins #Postdoc #Pseudogenes

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