Ψ KRT34 - Balaena mysticetus

Reference Gene:
Job_ID:
Curator:
GlossID Species Gene Loss Mechanism Loss Type Lineage Specific Evidence Accession Nr.
GL_BCWUR2 Balaena mysticetus Other Full No Genomic & Synteny maps

Statements

Type Excerpt DOI
Functional "Hair follicle-specific keratin genes consisted of 9 hair follicle-specific epithelial keratin genes (K71-K75, K25-K28) and 17 hair keratins (K31-K40, K81-K86) expressed in hair follicle and hair which could directly affect hair growth." 10.1186/s12983-017-0225-x
Methodology & Validation "We first identified α-keratin gene repertoires in the cow (Bos taurus) (coverage 7×,Btau_4.6.1) [...] taking all the known α-keratin gene sequences of human as queries using BLASTN and TBLASTN algorithm. [...] The putative α-keratin genes in the cow were then taken as queries to explore the α-keratin multigene family in the genome of 11 marine mammals, including [...] bowhead whale (Balaena mysticetus, coverage 150×, http://www.bowheadwhale.org/downloads/)." 10.1186/s12983-017-0225-x
Phenotypic "Our results show an apparent reduction in the α-keratin gene repertoire and increased rate of pseudogenization in cetaceans when compared to terrestrial counterparts, which may be associated with their hairless phenotype." 10.1186/s12983-017-0225-x
Other "However, some genes within one specie grouped together rather than with the members of the same family in other species, such as among the genes of K31, K33A, K33B and K34 in type I, as well as the K6A, K6B, K6C, K81, K83, K87 and K86 in the type II." 10.1186/s12983-017-0225-x

Curator Observations

The authors named the keratins according to the human nomenclature. Authors consider this a "pseudogene", with no further explanation or sequence information provided. As such, the gene loss mechanism is inconclusive. This gene loss is likely to be Cetacea-specific according to the papers' data; however, as the authors don't provide sequence information.