Genomic insights into the mechanisms of body size evolution in Serpentes
Abstract Background Body size is a critical trait that influences an animal’s physiology, behavior, and ecology. However, the molecular mechanisms underlying its evolution remain poorly understood, particularly in snakes. Snakes exhibit an extremely wide range of body sizes and strong ecological ada...
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BMC
2025-04-01
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| Series: | BMC Genomics |
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| Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.1186/s12864-025-11601-1 |
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| author | Tian Xia Shengyang Zhou Zhihao Zhang Xiaoyang Wu Xibao Wang Jianqun Ding Lei Zhang Guolei Sun Xiufeng Yang Xiaodong Gao Honghai Zhang |
| author_facet | Tian Xia Shengyang Zhou Zhihao Zhang Xiaoyang Wu Xibao Wang Jianqun Ding Lei Zhang Guolei Sun Xiufeng Yang Xiaodong Gao Honghai Zhang |
| author_sort | Tian Xia |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Abstract Background Body size is a critical trait that influences an animal’s physiology, behavior, and ecology. However, the molecular mechanisms underlying its evolution remain poorly understood, particularly in snakes. Snakes exhibit an extremely wide range of body sizes and strong ecological adaptability. Among snake species, the maximum body mass exceeds the minimum by over 200,000-fold, while the maximum body length surpasses the minimum by more than 110-fold. Results Through phylogenomic and comparative genomic analyses of 26 snake genomes, we identified 77 body size-associated genes (BSAGs) related to body length or body mass, highlighting key genetic drivers of body size evolution. Functional enrichment analyses revealed that metabolic pathways, particularly fatty acid metabolism and oxidoreductase activity, underwent significant expansion and positive selection, suggesting metabolic adaptations crucial for meeting the energetic demands of increased body size. Immune system-related genes, including those involved in antigen processing and presentation, similarly showed signatures of expansion and adaptive evolution, highlighting strengthened immune defenses in large-bodied snakes. Additionally, key candidate genes, such as YAP1, PLAG1, MGAT1 and SPRY1, exhibited both strong selection signals and correlation signals, and are functionally involved in developmental pathways critical for growth regulation. Conclusions Our findings reveal a complex interplay of sensory, immune, metabolic, and growth-related genetic adaptations driving large body size evolution in snakes. This study provides novel insights into the molecular underpinnings of snake body size diversification and advances our understanding of their evolutionary history. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-ba79eab4d39740cc858807a1031d72f7 |
| institution | DOAJ |
| issn | 1471-2164 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2025-04-01 |
| publisher | BMC |
| record_format | Article |
| series | BMC Genomics |
| spelling | doaj-art-ba79eab4d39740cc858807a1031d72f72025-08-20T02:55:31ZengBMCBMC Genomics1471-21642025-04-0126111110.1186/s12864-025-11601-1Genomic insights into the mechanisms of body size evolution in SerpentesTian Xia0Shengyang Zhou1Zhihao Zhang2Xiaoyang Wu3Xibao Wang4Jianqun Ding5Lei Zhang6Guolei Sun7Xiufeng Yang8Xiaodong Gao9Honghai Zhang10College of Life Sciences, Qufu Normal UniversityCollege of Life Sciences, Qufu Normal UniversityCollege of Life Sciences, Qufu Normal UniversityCollege of Life Sciences, Qufu Normal UniversityCollege of Life Sciences, Qufu Normal UniversityCollege of Life Sciences, Qufu Normal UniversityCollege of Life Sciences, Qufu Normal UniversityCollege of Life Sciences, Qufu Normal UniversityCollege of Life Sciences, Qufu Normal UniversityCollege of Life Sciences, Qufu Normal UniversityCollege of Life Sciences, Qufu Normal UniversityAbstract Background Body size is a critical trait that influences an animal’s physiology, behavior, and ecology. However, the molecular mechanisms underlying its evolution remain poorly understood, particularly in snakes. Snakes exhibit an extremely wide range of body sizes and strong ecological adaptability. Among snake species, the maximum body mass exceeds the minimum by over 200,000-fold, while the maximum body length surpasses the minimum by more than 110-fold. Results Through phylogenomic and comparative genomic analyses of 26 snake genomes, we identified 77 body size-associated genes (BSAGs) related to body length or body mass, highlighting key genetic drivers of body size evolution. Functional enrichment analyses revealed that metabolic pathways, particularly fatty acid metabolism and oxidoreductase activity, underwent significant expansion and positive selection, suggesting metabolic adaptations crucial for meeting the energetic demands of increased body size. Immune system-related genes, including those involved in antigen processing and presentation, similarly showed signatures of expansion and adaptive evolution, highlighting strengthened immune defenses in large-bodied snakes. Additionally, key candidate genes, such as YAP1, PLAG1, MGAT1 and SPRY1, exhibited both strong selection signals and correlation signals, and are functionally involved in developmental pathways critical for growth regulation. Conclusions Our findings reveal a complex interplay of sensory, immune, metabolic, and growth-related genetic adaptations driving large body size evolution in snakes. This study provides novel insights into the molecular underpinnings of snake body size diversification and advances our understanding of their evolutionary history.https://doi.org/10.1186/s12864-025-11601-1Serpentesbody size evolutioncoparative genomicspositive selection |
| spellingShingle | Tian Xia Shengyang Zhou Zhihao Zhang Xiaoyang Wu Xibao Wang Jianqun Ding Lei Zhang Guolei Sun Xiufeng Yang Xiaodong Gao Honghai Zhang Genomic insights into the mechanisms of body size evolution in Serpentes BMC Genomics Serpentes body size evolution coparative genomics positive selection |
| title | Genomic insights into the mechanisms of body size evolution in Serpentes |
| title_full | Genomic insights into the mechanisms of body size evolution in Serpentes |
| title_fullStr | Genomic insights into the mechanisms of body size evolution in Serpentes |
| title_full_unstemmed | Genomic insights into the mechanisms of body size evolution in Serpentes |
| title_short | Genomic insights into the mechanisms of body size evolution in Serpentes |
| title_sort | genomic insights into the mechanisms of body size evolution in serpentes |
| topic | Serpentes body size evolution coparative genomics positive selection |
| url | https://doi.org/10.1186/s12864-025-11601-1 |
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