澳大利亞聯(lián)邦科工組織12月21日在美國《科學》雜志上發(fā)表一項研究報告稱，對相對長壽和病毒抵抗力較強的蝙蝠的基因研究可能會為人類癌癥和傳染病的防治提供幫助,。

這項研究是由澳大利亞,、中國,、丹麥、美國和新加坡的研究人員合作進行的,。研究人員對蝙蝠的抗病毒能力和壽命等進行了深入研究,，他們把澳大利亞黑狐蝠（一種澳洲大型蝙蝠）和大衛(wèi)鼠耳蝠（一種中國特有的微型蝙蝠）的基因組與包括人類在內的其他8種哺乳動物的基因組進行對比，尋找其中的異同,。

“蝙蝠是諸如亨德拉病毒、埃博拉病毒等致命病毒的天然攜帶者,，但是它們對這些病毒表現(xiàn)出了極強的抵抗力,。它們也是唯一能夠飛行的哺乳動物，并且就體型而言,，它們的壽命比同類動物更長,，”聯(lián)邦科工組織動物健康實驗室的研究員克里斯·考爾德指出，“因此，對于蝙蝠基因進化適應性的深入理解,，將有助于人類疾病的防治研究,。”(生物谷Bioon.com)

DOI: 10.1126/science.1230835
PMC:
PMID:
Comparative Analysis of Bat Genomes Provides Insight into the Evolution of Flight and Immunity

Guojie Zhang1,2,*,†, Christopher Cowled3,*, Zhengli Shi4,*, Zhiyong Huang1,*, Kimberly A. Bishop-Lilly5,*,Xiaodong Fang1, James W. Wynne3, Zhiqiang Xiong1, Michelle L. Baker3, Wei Zhao1, Mary Tachedjian3,Yabing Zhu1, Peng Zhou3,4, Xuanting Jiang1, Justin Ng3, Lan Yang1, Lijun Wu4, Jin Xiao1, Yue Feng1,Yuanxin Chen1, Xiaoqing Sun1, Yong Zhang1, Glenn A. Marsh3, Gary Crameri3, Christopher C. Broder6,Kenneth G. Frey5, Lin-Fa Wang3,7,†, Jun Wang1,8,9,†

Bats are the only mammals capable of sustained flight and are notorious reservoir hosts for some of the world’s most highly pathogenic viruses, including Nipah, Hendra, Ebola, and severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS). To identify genetic changes associated with the development of bat-specific traits, we performed whole-genome sequencing and comparative analyses of two distantly related bat species, fruit batPteropus alecto and insectivorous Myotis davidii. We discovered an unexpected concentration of positively selected genes in the DNA damage checkpoint and nuclear factor–κB pathways that may be related to the origin of flight, as well as expansion and contraction of important gene families. Comparison of bat genomes with other mammalian species has provided new insights into bat biology and evolution.