Influence of habitat change from land to sea on the evolution of antimicrobial peptide gene families, including β‐defensin gene clusters, in mammals

Antimicrobial peptides (AMP) are innate immune molecules with antimicrobial activity that are important to defend against pathogenic infection. We performed genome-level analyses of the AMP family gene repertories for six terrestrial (Homo sapiens, Bos taurus, Sus scrofa, Capra hircus, Canis lupus, and Loxodonta africana) and five aquatic (Balaenoptera acutorostrata, Tursiops truncatus, Lipotes vexillifer, Odobenus rosmarus, and Trichechus...