Role of conserved non-coding elements in adaptive evolution of species

<p indent="0mm">In addition to coding sequences, a large number of conserved non-coding elements exist in the genome of an organism. Previous studies focused on the roles of positive selection and amino acid convergence in species adaptation based on coding regions of protein-coding genes, whereas non-coding regions have been less studied. Comparative genomics has revealed that conserved non-coding elements are widely distributed in the genome and may function as <italic>cis-</italic>regulatory elements such as enhancers. The changes of their sequence characteristics and rapid evolution play an important role during adaptive evolution and convergent evolution of species, affecting the adaptive phenotype and physiological traits of many species. This review summarizes the functional mechanisms, main features and identification methods of conserved non-coding elements during adaptive evolution of species, and further summarizes the functional mechanisms and patterns of conserved non-coding elements during convergent evolution. Finally, we discuss the prospect of conserved non-coding element research. This review will provide scientific guidance for the study of molecular mechanisms of adaptive evolution and convergent evolution from the perspective of non-coding regions.