Co-Opted Megasatellite DNA Drives Evolution of Secondary Night Vision in Azara's Owl Monkey

Genome Biology and Evolution
Akihiko KogaHirohisa Hirai

Abstract

Owl monkeys (genus Aotus) are the only taxon in simian primates that consists of nocturnal or otherwise cathemeral species. Their night vision is superior to that of other monkeys, apes, and humans but not as good as that of typical nocturnal mammals. This incomplete night vision has been used to conclude that these monkeys only secondarily adapted to a nocturnal lifestyle, or to their cathemeral lifestyle that involves high night-time activity. It is known that the rod cells of many nocturnal mammals possess a unique nuclear architecture in which heterochromatin is centrally located. This "inverted nuclear architecture", in contrast with "conventional nuclear architecture", provides elevated night vision by passing light efficiently to the outer segments of photoreceptors. Owl monkey rod cells exhibit an intermediate chromatin distribution, which may provide them with less efficient night vision than other nocturnal mammals. Recently, we identified three megasatellite DNAs in the genome of Azara's owl monkey (Aotus azarae). In the present study, we show that one of the three megasatellite DNAs, OwlRep, serves as the primary component of the heterochromatin block located in the central space of the rod nucleus in A. azarae. Thi...Continue Reading

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Citations

Apr 17, 2018·The Journal of Comparative Neurology·Mary K L Baldwin, Leah Krubitzer
Sep 28, 2021·Genes to Cells : Devoted to Molecular & Cellular Mechanisms·Hidenori NishiharaAkihiko Koga

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Datasets Mentioned

BETA
JQ933005

Software Mentioned

Amira
ZEN2
MarAlp
OwlRep
Imaris

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