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Independent genomic trajectories shape adaptation to life on land across animal lineages

Martinez-Redondo, G. I.; Eleftheriadi, K.; Salces-Ortiz, J.; Escudero, N.; Fernandez-Alvarez, F. A.; Carbonetto, B.; Vargas-Chavez, C.; Garcia-Vernet, R.; Palma-Guerrero, J.; Renteria, L.; Rojo, I.; Chiva, C.; Sabido, E.; Bombarely, A.; Fernandez, R.

2025-10-03 evolutionary biology
10.1101/2025.10.02.680026 bioRxiv
Show abstract

How animals repeatedly adapted to life on land is a central question in evolutionary biology. While terrestrialisation occurred independently across animal phyla, it remains unclear whether shared genomic mechanisms underlie these transitions. We combined large-scale comparative genomics, machine learning, and multi-omics data--including proteomics and transcriptomics from stress experiments in 17 species--to investigate the genomic basis of terrestrial adaptation. Gene co-expression networks revealed that stress-response hubs were largely lineage-specific, yet converged in function through the co-option of ancient gene families. Phylogenomic and machine learning analyses supported a dominant role for early-evolving genes, enriched in stress-related functions, with extensive gene loss at terrestrialisation nodes. Our findings support a model of functional convergence via lineage-specific repurposing of conserved genomic elements.

Published in Nature Communications (predicted rank #1) · training set

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