Title
Initial phylotranscriptomic confirmation of homoplastic evolution of the conspicuous coloration and bufoniform morphology of pumpkin-toadlets in the genus brachycephalus
Date Issued
01 November 2021
Access level
open access
Resource Type
journal article
Author(s)
Lyra M.L.
Monteiro J.P.C.
Rancilhac L.
Irisarri I.
Sanchez E.
Condez T.H.
Solé M.
Haddad C.F.B.
Vences M.
Künzel S.
Toledo L.F.
Pontifícia Universidade Católica do Rio Grande do Sul
Publisher(s)
Multidisciplinary Digital Publishing Institute (MDPI)
Abstract
The genus Brachycephalus is a fascinating group of miniaturized anurans from the Brazilian Atlantic Forest, comprising the conspicuous, brightly colored pumpkin-toadlets and the cryptic flea-toads. Pumpkin-toadlets are known to contain tetrodotoxins and therefore, their bright colors may perform an aposematic function. Previous studies based on a limited number of mitochondrial and nuclear-encoded markers supported the existence of two clades containing species of pumpkin-toadlet phenotype, but deep nodes remained largely unresolved or conflicting between data sets. We use new RNAseq data of 17 individuals from nine Brachycephalus species to infer their evolutionary relationships from a phylogenomic perspective. Analyses of almost 5300 nuclear-encoded ortholog protein-coding genes and full mitochondrial genomes confirmed the existence of two separate pumpkin-toadlet clades, suggesting the convergent evolution (or multiple reversals) of the bufoniform morphology, conspicuous coloration, and probably toxicity. In addition, the study of the mitochondrial gene order revealed that three species (B. hermogenesi, B. pitanga, and B. rotenbergae) display translocations of different tRNAs (NCY and CYA) from the WANCY tRNA cluster to a position between the genes ATP6 and COIII, showing a new mitochondrial gene order arrangement for vertebrates. The newly clarified phylogeny suggests that Brachycephalus has the potential to become a promising model taxon to understand the evolution of coloration, body plan and toxicity. Given that toxicity information is available for only few species of Brachycephalus, without data for any flea-toad species, we also emphasize the need for a wider screening of toxicity across species, together with more in-depth functional and ecological study of their phenotypes.
Volume
13
Issue
11
Language
English
OCDE Knowledge area
Bioquímica, Biología molecular
Zoología, Ornitología, Entomología, ciencias biológicas del comportamiento
Ecología
Subjects
Publication version
Version of Record
Scopus EID
2-s2.0-85119995381
PubMed ID
Source
Toxins
ISSN of the container
2072-6651
DOI of the container
10.3390/toxins13110816
Sponsor(s)
Funding: Work in Brazil was supported by a grant from Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior (CAPES; 88881.062205/2014-01) to MLL, CFBH, and MV. MLL was supported by the National Council for Scientific and Technological Development (CNPq; #163546/2020-7). JPCM was supported by São Paulo Research Foundation (FAPESP #2018/09691-0). LR was supported by the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (grant VE247/16-1–HO 3492/6-1) in the framework of the “TaxonOmics” priority program. THC thanks FAPESP (#2015/00461-1, #2016/871-9, #2017/26281-7) and CNPq (#302308/2019-9, #301381/2020-8, #302386/2020-3, #300810/2021-0, #301404/2021-6) for financial support. ORP acknowledges CAPES (#88887.343060/2019-00) for doctoral fellowship. LFT thanks grants and fellowships from FAPESP (#2016/25358-3; #2019/18335-5) and CNPq (#300896/2016-6; #302834/2020-6). MS acknowledges grants from Bahia Research Foundation (FAPESB, #APP0062/2016) and CNPq, for a research fellowship (#304999/2015-6) and funding through a PROTAX-project (#440615/2015-1). CFBH thanks FAPESP grant (#2013/50741-7, #2014/50342-8) and CNPq (#302518/2013-4), for a research fellowship. ES was supported by a grant of the Deutscher Akademischer Austauschdienst.
Sources of information:
Directorio de Producción Científica
Scopus