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Hypoxic and Cold Adaptation Insights from the Himalayan Marmot Genome
Liang Bai1, Baoning Liu1, Changmian Ji2
1Laboratory Animal Center, Xi'an Jiaotong University Health Science Center, No.76, Yanta West Road, Xi'an, Shaanxi 710061, China; Research Institute of Atherosclerotic Disease, Xi'an Jiaotong University Cardiovascular Research Center, Xi'an, Shaanxi 710061, China.
Abstract:
The Himalayan marmot (Marmota himalayana) is a hibernating mammal that inhabits the high-elevation regions of the Himalayan mountains. Here we present a draft genome of the Himalayan marmot, with a total assembly length of 2.47 Gb. Phylogenetic analyses showed that the Himalayan marmot diverged from the Mongolian marmot approximately 1.98 million years ago. Transcriptional changes during hibernation included genes responsible for fatty acid metabolism in liver and genes involved in complement and coagulation cascades and stem cell pluripotency pathways in brain. Two selective sweep genes, Slc25a14 and ψAamp, showed apparent genotyping differences between low- and high-altitude populations. As a processed pseudogene, ψAamp may be biologically active to influence the stability of Aamp through competitive microRNA binding. These findings shed light on the molecular and genetic basis underlying adaptation to extreme environments in the Himalayan marmot.
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