Comparative genomics uncovers molecular adaptations for cetacean deep-sea diving

Cetaceans exhibit a remarkable diversity in their diving capabilities, associated with significant physiological adaptations to extreme marine environments. Although there is plenty of literature on cetacean aquatic adaptations, studies on the intraspecies differences (especially on the diving adaptations of exceptional divers) are scarce. A total of 5810 high-quality one-to-one gene homologous sequences were identified from the genomes of 20 cetaceans, which prepared for subsequent comparative genomic analysis to explore the diving ability of super-divers.