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Molecular Variation in Thermoregulatory Adaptation in Rodents
Ecological and Evolutionary Physiology
|November 26, 2025
Summary
Mammals with flexible thermoregulation show adaptive gene evolution for environmental responsiveness. These molecular changes enhance survival by enabling shifts between homeothermy, daily heterothermy, and hibernation.
Area of Science:
- Evolutionary biology
- Physiological ecology
- Molecular biology
Background:
- Endothermic homeothermy allows survival in diverse environments but incurs high energy costs.
- Flexible thermoregulation, including daily heterothermy and hibernation, is a strategy mammals use to mitigate these costs.
- Adaptive molecular changes in thermoregulatory genes may enhance responsiveness to environmental variability.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate adaptive molecular changes in thermoregulatory genes across different mammalian thermoregulatory strategies.
- To test the hypothesis that flexible thermoregulators have evolved enhanced responsiveness to environmental change through genetic adaptations.
- To explore the evolutionary continuum of thermoregulatory strategies.
Main Methods:
- Analyzed 54 thermoregulation-associated genes in 21 rodent species representing homeothermy, daily heterothermy, and hibernation.
- Identified signals of positive selection in genes across different thermoregulatory strategies.
- Utilized protein modeling and structural docking to analyze amino acid substitutions and network connectivity.
Main Results:
- Positive selection signals were found in 35 thermoregulation-associated genes, with many shared across strategies.
- Daily heterotherms showed stronger selection in metabolic and stress-response genes; hibernators showed selection in homeostasis-related genes.
- Amino acid substitutions in Ucp1 potentially enhance thermal stability in daily heterotherms, while hibernators exhibit increased thermoregulatory network complexity.
Conclusions:
- Gene evolution and network connectivity are crucial for mammalian thermoregulatory flexibility and adaptation to environmental challenges.
- Thermoregulatory strategies appear to exist on a continuum, supported by overlapping genetic adaptations across species.
- Molecular adaptations in thermoregulatory genes enable mammals to respond adaptively to fluctuating environmental conditions.
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