Class material:Cinereous vulture

The Cinereous vulture is one of the largest raptors on Earth, and its genome and transcriptome analysis
provide significant insights into biological diversity, evolution, and immunology. It is fascinating to examine,
from a genomic perspective, how the Cinereous vulture adapts to extreme environments.

A unique aspect of the Cinereous vulture's diet is its consumption of carrion. If humans consumed rotten meat,
it would likely disrupt digestion and the pathogens present could threaten survival. However, how does
the Cinereous vulture manage to survive while feeding on such a diet?

Genomic analysis has revealed that the Cinereous vulture produces strong gastric acids and has a specially
developed immune system. These traits allow the vulture to resist the various pathogens found in carrion.
Particularly interesting is a gene known as PSGs in the Cinereous vulture. This gene plays a crucial role in
acid secretion, immune response, and pathogen detection, enabling the vulture's unique dietary habits.

This leads to a thought: if a Cinereous vulture experiences epigenetic issues affecting the expression of PSGs,
or carries a genetic anomaly in the PSGs, it might be unable to maintain its carrion-eating habits. Given that
the lifestyle of the Cinereous vulture is specialized to consume carrion, a vulture with such genetic anomalies likely would not survive. 

The lecture highlighted that if a species has specialized traits, these are due to specific genes.
Should there be a malfunction in these genes, the species would not exhibit these specialized traits
and would not differ from other species. This principle, illustrated by the example of the Cinereous vulture,
could universally apply to other species with unique characteristics.