WINEGRET: а method for Wide-scale Identification of Novel and Eliminated Genes Responsible for Evolutionary Transformations
Scientists from the Laboratory of Molecular Bases of Embryogenesis at the Shemyakin-Ovchinnikov Institute of Bioorganic Chemistry, Russian Academy of Sciences, in collaboration with researchers from the Kharkevich Institute for Problems of Information Transmission, Russian Academy of Sciences, have pioneered a method for wide-scale identification of genes whose loss or emergence during evolution correlates with the disappearance or emergence of distinct phenotypic or physiological traits. As a proof of concept, the team pinpointed genes involved in limb regeneration among fish and amphibians, traits absent in reptiles, birds, and mammals lacking this regenerative ability. The developed approach provides an extensive range of opportunities for investigating the intricate interplay between the changes in phenotypic and physiological traits and the specific genetic transformations that occur throughout evolution. This research was supported by the Russian Science Foundation grant 23-74-30005 and published in the journal Biology Direct. Learn more
august 17, 2023