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Gene expression plasticity and desert adaptation in house mice
Noëlle K J Bittner1, Katya L Mack1,2, Michael W Nachman1
1Deparment of Integrative Biology and Museum of Vertebrate Zoology, University of California Berkeley, Berkeley, California, 94720.
Evolution; International Journal of Organic Evolution
|January 18, 2021
Summary
Phenotypic plasticity aids adaptation to new environments. Desert mice show evolved water-stress tolerance, with non-desert mice exhibiting adaptive plasticity, suggesting it facilitated desert colonization.
Area of Science:
- Evolutionary biology
- Genomics
- Physiology
Background:
- Understanding adaptation to new environments is crucial in evolutionary biology.
- The role of phenotypic plasticity in adaptation remains debated.
- House mice (Mus musculus domesticus) provide a model for studying adaptation to diverse environments.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate evolved and plastic responses to water-stress in desert and non-desert house mice.
- To determine if phenotypic plasticity facilitates or hinders adaptation to arid environments.
- To analyze gene expression and organismal phenotypes under varying water availability.
Main Methods:
- Studied lab-born descendants of wild house mice from desert and non-desert origins.
- Measured phenotypes (water consumption, weight, blood chemistry) under control and water-stressed conditions.
- Analyzed kidney gene expression to identify evolved differences and plastic responses.
Main Results:
- Desert mice exhibited evolved, genetically based, reduced water consumption and maintained more weight under water-stress.
- Gene expression in the kidney showed both evolved differences and plastic responses to hydration status.
- Non-desert mice displayed shifts in gene expression towards desert-like patterns under water-stress, indicating adaptive plasticity.
Conclusions:
- Local adaptation to desert environments occurred in house mice after a recent invasion.
- Adaptive phenotypic plasticity appears to have facilitated the colonization of arid habitats.
- Gene expression modules linked to phenotypes provide insights into the mechanisms of adaptation.
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