Description
Animals often develop convergent solutions in response to diverse environmental pressures. One such example involves adhesive secretions that have evolved recurrently throughout the animal tree, serving functions ranging from long-term substrate attachment (e.g., mussel byssus) to locomotion (e.g., echinoderm tube feet) to prey capture (e.g., spider silk threads). Among amphibians, a fraction of species has evolved to secrete a viscous fluid from their skin that quickly solidifies into a sticky mass - or glue - which acts as a rapid onset defence mechanism against predators. Although glue secretion for antipredator defence has evolved independently in several distantly related frog families, little is known about the genetic basis of this adhesive system. Here we show that amphibian glues evolved through the recruitment and remodeling of universally available molecular templates. By conducting transcriptomic and proteomic analysis of the skin and secretions of the Madagascan tomato frog, Dyscophus guineti, we identified two protein families that are central to its stickiness. Subsequent comparisons with homologous proteins of other amphibians uncovered the genetic changes that led to the parallel evolution of glue in at least two different frog lineages. The selection and repurposing of existing structures for a new functional role demonstrates how animals frequently arrive at similar solutions to an adaptive problem, and highlights the pragmatism and predictability of evolution.| Periode | 6 sep. 2023 |
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| Evenementstitel | SEH 22nd European Congress of Herpetology |
| Evenementstype | Conference |
| Locatie | Wolverhampton, United KingdomToon op kaart |