Few animals are as strange as the spotted duck platypus that lays eggs instead of laying babies, sweats milk, has poisonous spurs, 10 sex chromosomes, and shining fur. .The first complete map of his genome release has added to the strangeness of his response to some of the answers to how some of his unique traits have emerged.
The study was published in the scientific journal Nature.
Physical map of the platypus genome
Although this beaver-like genty platypus had previously been classified in Australia, it was only for a female. Now, using male platypus, an international team of researchers led by the University of Copenhagen has created a physical map of the platypus genome that is more accurate than ever.
The platypus duck lips belong to a specialized group of mammals called monotremes and their genes are relatively primary and unchanged, revealing a mixture of several classes of invertebrates: birds, reptiles, and mammals. “It retained many of the original features of its ancestors – which may contribute to the success of adapting to the environment in which they live,” says evolutionary biologist Guojie Zhang, at the University of Copenhagen. .
“The whole genome has given us answers to how some of the strange features of platypus have emerged. At the same time, encoding the genome for platypus is important for our understanding of how other mammals evolved – a introducing humans to us, ”Zhang said, noting that the genome holds the key to why humans became animals that lay rather than lay eggs.
The same animal with 10 sex chromosomes
In addition, instead of teeth, platypus has two horn plates that they use to shred their food. About 120 million years ago four of the eight genes responsible for tooth development disappeared, ending with platypus losing their teeth.
Another weirdness was involving platypus being the only animal with 10 sex chromosomes. The monotremes have five Y chromosomes and five X.
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Now, thanks to the almost complete chromosomal stage genomes, researchers believe that these 10 sex chromosomes in the ancestors of the monotremes were arranged in the form of a ring that was subsequently broken. in many small pieces of X and Y chromosomes.
Moreover, genome mapping has revealed that most monotreme sex chromosomes are more common with chickens than they are with humans, also revealing an evolutionary link between mammals and birds. Odd little animals indeed!