Mol Biol Evol. 2011 Jan;28(1):7-12. doi: 10.1093/molbev/msq207. Epub 2010 Aug 6.
The vertebrate vomeronasal system (VNS) detects intraspecific pheromones and environmental odorants. We sequenced segments of the gene encoding Trpc2, an ion channel crucial for vomeronasal signal transduction, in 11 species that represent all main basal lineages of Yinpterochiroptera, one of the two suborders of the order Chiroptera (bats). Our sequences show that Trpc2 is a pseudogene in each of the 11 bats, suggesting that all yinpterochiropterans lack vomeronasal sensitivity. The Trpc2 sequences from four species of Yangochiroptera, the other suborder of bats, suggest vomeronasal insensitivity in some but not all yangochiropterans. These results, together with the available morphological data from the bat VNS, strongly suggest multiple and widespread losses of vomeronasal signal transduction and sensitivity in bats. Future scrutiny of the specific functions of the VNS in the few bats that still retain the VNS may help explain why it is dispensable in most bats.
脊椎动物的犁鼻器系统 (VNS) 可以检测同种异体信息素和环境气味。我们对编码 Trpc2 的基因片段进行了测序，Trpc2 是一种离子通道，对于犁鼻器信号转导至关重要，该基因在代表翼手目（蝙蝠）两个亚目中的一个的 11 种蝙蝠中都存在。我们的序列表明，在这 11 种蝙蝠中，Trpc2 都是假基因，这表明所有的翼手目动物都缺乏犁鼻器敏感性。来自另外一个亚目阳翼手目的四种蝙蝠的 Trpc2 序列表明，一些阳翼手目动物而不是所有的阳翼手目动物都缺乏犁鼻器敏感性。这些结果，以及来自蝙蝠犁鼻器系统的现有形态学数据，强烈表明蝙蝠的犁鼻器信号转导和敏感性存在多次广泛的丧失。对少数仍然保留犁鼻器的蝙蝠的犁鼻器的特定功能的进一步研究可能有助于解释为什么在大多数蝙蝠中它是可有可无的。
