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 diet in pangolins and anteaters. This highlights the role of historical contingency and molecular tinkering of the chitin-digestive enzyme toolkit in this classical example of dietary convergent evolution.
Allio R., Teullet S., Lutgen D., Magdeleine A., Koual R., Tilak M.-K., de Thoisy B., Emerling C.A., Lefébure T., & Delsuc F.* (14-16 March 2022). Comparative transcriptomics reveals divergent paths of chitinase evolution underlying dietary convergence in ant-eating mammals. Rencontres ALPHY/AIEM : Génomique Evolutive, Bioinformatique, Alignement et Phylogénie (Rennes, France). [Oral communication]