scholarly journals A comparative analysis of differentially expressed mRNAs, miRNAs and circRNAs provides insights into the key genes involved in the high-altitude adaptation of yaks

BMC Genomics ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 22 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Qianyun Ge ◽  
Yongbo Guo ◽  
Wangshan Zheng ◽  
Yuan Cai ◽  
Xuebin Qi ◽  
...  

Abstract Background Yaks that inhabit the Tibetan Plateau exhibit striking phenotypic and physiological differences from cattle and have adapted well to the extreme conditions on the plateau. However, the mechanisms used by these animals for the regulation of gene expression at high altitude are not fully understood. Results Here, we sequenced nine lung transcriptomes of yaks at altitudes of 3400, 4200 and 5000 m, and low-altitude Zaosheng cattle, which is a closely related species, served as controls. The analysis identified 21,764 mRNAs, 1377 circRNAs and 1209 miRNAs. By comparing yaks and cattle, 4975 mRNAs, 252 circRNAs and 75 miRNAs were identified differentially expressed. By comparing yaks at different altitudes, we identified 756 mRNAs, 64 circRNAs and 83 miRNAs that were differentially expressed (fold change ≥2 and P-value < 0.05). The pathways enriched in the mRNAs, circRNAs and miRNAs identified from the comparison of yaks and cattle were mainly associated with metabolism, including ‘glycosaminoglycan degradation’, ‘pentose and glucuronate interconversions’ and ‘flavone and flavonol biosynthesis’, and the mRNAs, circRNAs and miRNAs identified from the comparison of yaks at different altitude gradients were significantly enriched in metabolic pathways and immune and genetic information processing pathways. The core RNAs were identified from the mRNA-miRNA-circRNA networks constructed using the predominant differentially expressed RNAs. The core genes specific to the difference between yaks and cattle were associated with the endoplasmic reticulum and fat deposition, but those identified from the comparison among yaks at different altitude gradients were associated with maintenance of the normal biological functions of cells. Conclusions This study enhances our understanding of the molecular mechanisms involved in hypoxic adaptation in yaks and might contribute to improvements in the understanding and prevention of hypoxia-related diseases.

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rahul K Verma ◽  
Cristina Giuliani ◽  
Alena Kalyakuina ◽  
Ajay Deep Kachhvah ◽  
Mikhail Ivanchenko ◽  
...  

ABSTRACTFinding mechanisms behind high altitude adaptation in humans at the Tibetan plateau has been a subject of evolutionary research. Mitochondrial DNA (mt-DNA) variations have been established as one of the key players in understanding the biological mechanisms at the basis of adaptation to these extreme conditions. To explore cumulative effects and dynamics of the variations in mitochondrial genome at varying altitudes, we investigated human mt-DNA sequences from NCBI database at different altitudes by employing co-occurrence motifs framework. We constructed co-occurrence motifs by taking into account variable sites for each altitude group. Analysis of the co-occurrence motifs using similarity clustering revealed a clear distinction between a lower and a higher altitude region. In addition, the previously known high altitude markers 3394 and 7697 (which are definitive sites of haplogroup M9a1a1c1b) were found to co-occur within their own gene complexes indicating the impact of intra-genic constraint on co-evolution of nucleotides. Furthermore, an ancestral marker 10398 was found to co-occur only at higher altitudes supporting the fact that a separate root of colonization at these altitudes might have taken place. Overall, our analysis revealed the presence of co-occurrence motifs at a whole mitochondrial genome level. This study, combined with the classical haplogroups analysis is useful in understanding role of co-occurrence of mitochondrial variations in high altitude adaptation.


2017 ◽  
Vol 114 (16) ◽  
pp. 4189-4194 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jian Yang ◽  
Zi-Bing Jin ◽  
Jie Chen ◽  
Xiu-Feng Huang ◽  
Xiao-Man Li ◽  
...  

Indigenous Tibetan people have lived on the Tibetan Plateau for millennia. There is a long-standing question about the genetic basis of high-altitude adaptation in Tibetans. We conduct a genome-wide study of 7.3 million genotyped and imputed SNPs of 3,008 Tibetans and 7,287 non-Tibetan individuals of Eastern Asian ancestry. Using this large dataset, we detect signals of high-altitude adaptation at nine genomic loci, of which seven are unique. The alleles under natural selection at two of these loci [methylenetetrahydrofolate reductase (MTHFR) and EPAS1] are strongly associated with blood-related phenotypes, such as hemoglobin, homocysteine, and folate in Tibetans. The folate-increasing allele of rs1801133 at the MTHFR locus has an increased frequency in Tibetans more than expected under a drift model, which is probably a consequence of adaptation to high UV radiation. These findings provide important insights into understanding the genomic consequences of high-altitude adaptation in Tibetans.


2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
M Su ◽  
K Wander ◽  
MK Shenk ◽  
T Blumenfield ◽  
H Li ◽  
...  

AbstractHuman populations native to high altitude regions (≥2500 m) exhibit numerous adaptations to hypoxic stress. On the Tibetan Plateau, these include modifications of the hypoxia inducible factor (HIF) pathway to essentially uncouple erythropoiesis (red blood cell production) and blood hemoglobin (Hb) concentration—which normally increase in response to low oxygen—from hypoxia. Uncoupling of erythropoiesis and hypoxia is also observed among people with diabetes due to damage to kidney tissues. This is hypothesized to result in elevated risk for anemia among diabetics, which increases risk for cardiovascular disease and death. We tested the hypothesis that the independence of erythropoiesis from HIF among high-altitude adapted populations of the Tibetan Plateau may protect against diabetes-associated anemia. We investigated this hypothesis among the Mosuo, a population living in Yunnan Province, China (at ~2800 m altitude) that is undergoing rapid market integration and lifestyle change, with concomitant increase in risk for type 2 diabetes. We found that, although diabetes (glycated hemoglobin, HbA1c ≥6.5%) is associated with anemia (females: Hb<12g/dl; males: Hb<13g/dl) among the Chinese population as a whole (N: 5,606; OR: 1.48; p: 0.008), this is not the case among the Mosuo (N: 316; OR: 1.36; p: 0.532). Both pathways uncoupling hypoxia from erythropoiesis (diabetic disease and high altitude adaptation) are incompletely understood; their intersection in protecting Mosuo with diabetes from anemia may provide insight into the mechanisms underlying each. Further, these findings point to the importance of understanding how high-altitude adaptations interact with chronic disease processes, as populations like the Mosuo experience rapid market integration.


2019 ◽  
Vol 16 (4) ◽  
pp. 314-329
Author(s):  
Asma Babar ◽  
Tserang Donko Mipam ◽  
Shixin Wu ◽  
Chuanfei Xu ◽  
Mujahid Ali Shah ◽  
...  

<P>Background: Yaks inhabit high-altitude are well-adapted to the hypoxic environments. Though, the mechanisms involved in regulatory myocardial protein expression at high-altitude were not completely understood. </P><P> Objective: To revel the molecular mechanism of hypoxic adaptation in yak, here we have applied comparative myocardial proteomics in between yak and cattle by isobaric Tag for Relative and Absolute Quantitation (iTRAQ) labelling. </P><P> Methods: To understand the systematic protein expression variations in myocardial tissues that explain the hypoxic adaptation in yak, we have performed iTRAQ analysis combined with Liquid Chromatography- Tandem Mass Spectrometry (LC-MS/MS). Bioinformatics analysis was performed to find the association of these Differentially Expressed Proteins (DEPs) in different functions and pathways. Protein to protein interaction was analyzed by using STRING database. </P><P> Results: 686 Differentially Expressed Proteins (DEPs) were identified in yak with respect to cattle. From which, 480 DEPs were up-regulated and 206 were down-regulated in yak. Upregulated expression of ASB4, STAT, HRG, RHO and TSP4 in yak may be associated with angiogenesis, cardiovascular development, response to pressure overload to heart and regulation of myocardial contraction in response to increased oxygen tension. The up-regulation of mitochondrial proteins, ACAD8, GPDH-M, PTPMT1, and ALDH2, may have contributed to oxidation within mitochondria, hypoxia-induced cell metabolism and protection of heart against cardiac ischemic injuries. Further, the upregulated expression of SAA1, PTX, HP and MBL2 involved in immune response potentially helpful in myocardial protection against ischemic injuries, extracellular matrix remodeling and free heme neutralization/ clearance in oxygen-deficient environment. </P><P> Conclusion: Therefore, the identification of these myocardial proteins in will be conducive to investigation of the molecular mechanisms involved in hypoxic adaptations of yaks at high-altitude condition.</P>


2019 ◽  
Vol 7 (6) ◽  
pp. 952-963 ◽  
Author(s):  
Dong-Dong Wu ◽  
Cui-Ping Yang ◽  
Ming-Shan Wang ◽  
Kun-Zhe Dong ◽  
Da-Wei Yan ◽  
...  

Abstract Abundant and diverse domestic mammals living on the Tibetan Plateau provide useful materials for investigating adaptive evolution and genetic convergence. Here, we used 327 genomes from horses, sheep, goats, cattle, pigs and dogs living at both high and low altitudes, including 73 genomes generated for this study, to disentangle the genetic mechanisms underlying local adaptation of domestic mammals. Although molecular convergence is comparatively rare at the DNA sequence level, we found convergent signature of positive selection at the gene level, particularly the EPAS1 gene in these Tibetan domestic mammals. We also reported a potential function in response to hypoxia for the gene C10orf67, which underwent positive selection in three of the domestic mammals. Our data provide an insight into adaptive evolution of high-altitude domestic mammals, and should facilitate the search for additional novel genes involved in the hypoxia response pathway.


2010 ◽  
Vol 42A (4) ◽  
pp. 301-316 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yoram Yagil ◽  
Martin Hessner ◽  
Herbert Schulz ◽  
Claudia Gosele ◽  
Larissa Lebedev ◽  
...  

Investigation of proteinuria, whose pathophysiology remains incompletely understood, is confounded by differences in the phenotype between males and females. We initiated a sex-specific geno-transcriptomic dissection of proteinuria in uninephrectomized male and female Sabra rats that spontaneously develop focal and segmental glomerulosclerosis, testing the hypothesis that different mechanisms might underlie the pathophysiology of proteinuria between the sexes. In the genomic arm, we scanned the genome of 136 male and 111 female uninephrectomized F2 populations derived from crosses between SBH/y and SBN/y. In males, we identified proteinuria-related quantitative trait loci (QTLs) on RNO2 and 20 and protective QTLs on RNO6 and 9. In females, we detected proteinuria-related QTLs on RNO11, 13, and 20. The only QTL overlap between the sexes was on RNO20. Using consomic strains, we confirmed the functional significance of this QTL in both sexes. In the transcriptomic arm, we searched on a genomewide scale for genes that were differentially expressed in kidneys of SBH/y and SBN/y with and without uninephrectomy. These studies identified within each sex differentially expressed genes of relevance to proteinuria. Integrating genomics with transcriptomics, we identified differentially expressed genes that mapped within the boundaries of the proteinuria-related QTLs, singling out 24 transcripts in males and 30 in females, only 4 of which ( Tubb5, Ubd, Psmb8, and C2) were common to both sexes. Data mining revealed that these transcripts are involved in multiple molecular mechanisms, including immunity, inflammation, apoptosis, matrix deposition, and protease activity, with no single molecular pathway predominating in either sex. These results suggest that the pathophysiology of proteinuria is highly complex and that some of the underlying mechanisms are shared between the sexes, while others are sex specific and may account for the difference in the proteinuric phenotype between males and females.


2021 ◽  
Vol 12 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Ying Zhang ◽  
Woyu Su ◽  
Bo Zhang ◽  
Yao Ling ◽  
Woo Kyun Kim ◽  
...  

Abstract Background Tibetan chickens, a unique native breed in the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau of China, possess a suite of adaptive features that enable them to tolerate the high-altitude hypoxic environment. Increasing evidence suggests that long non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs) and microRNAs (miRNAs) play roles in the hypoxic adaptation of high-altitude animals, although their exact involvement remains unclear. Results This study aimed to elucidate the global landscape of mRNAs, lncRNAs, and miRNAs using transcriptome sequencing to construct a regulatory network of competing endogenous RNAs (ceRNAs) and thus provide insights into the hypoxic adaptation of Tibetan chicken embryos. In total, 354 differentially expressed genes (DE genes), 389 differentially expressed lncRNAs (DE lncRNAs), and 73 differentially expressed miRNAs (DE miRNAs) were identified between Tibetan chickens (TC) and control Chahua chickens (CH). GO and KEGG enrichment analysis revealed that several important DE miRNAs and their target DE lncRNAs and DE genes are involved in angiogenesis (including blood vessel development and blood circulation) and energy metabolism (including glucose, carbohydrate, and lipid metabolism). The ceRNA network was then constructed with the predicted DE gene-DE miRNA-DE lncRNA interactions, which further revealed the regulatory roles of these differentially expressed RNAs during hypoxic adaptation of Tibetan chickens. Conclusions Analysis of transcriptomic data revealed several key candidate ceRNAs that may play high-priority roles in the hypoxic adaptation of Tibetan chickens by regulating angiogenesis and energy metabolism. These results provide insights into the molecular mechanisms of hypoxic adaptation regulatory networks from the perspective of coding and non-coding RNAs.


2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ke Cao ◽  
Zhen Peng ◽  
Xing Zhao ◽  
Yong Li ◽  
Kuozhan Liu ◽  
...  

AbstractAs a foundation to understand the molecular mechanisms of peach evolution and high-altitude adaptation, we performed de novo genome assembling of four wild relatives of P. persica, P. mira, P. kansuensis, P. davidiana and P. ferganensis. Through comparative genomic analysis, abundant genetic variations were identified in four wild species when compared to P. persica. Among them, a deletion, located at the promoter of Prupe.2G053600 in P. kansuensis, was validated to regulate the resistance to nematode. Next, a pan-genome was constructed which comprised 15,216 core gene families among four wild peaches and P. perisca. We identified the expanded and contracted gene families in different species and investigated their roles during peach evolution. Our results indicated that P. mira was the primitive ancestor of cultivated peach, and peach evolution was non-linear and a cross event might have occurred between P. mira and P. dulcis during the process. Combined with the selective sweeps identified using accessions of P. mira originating from different altitude regions, we proposed that nitrogen recovery was essential for high-altitude adaptation of P. mira through increasing its resistance to low temperature. The pan-genome constructed in our study provides a valuable resource for developing elite cultivars, studying the peach evolution, and characterizing the high-altitude adaptation in perennial crops.


2021 ◽  
Vol 12 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hui Wang ◽  
Jincheng Zhong ◽  
Jikun Wang ◽  
Zhixin Chai ◽  
Chengfu Zhang ◽  
...  

BackgroundThe yak (Bos grunniens) is an important livestock species that can survive the extremely cold, harsh, and oxygen-poor conditions of the Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau and provide meat, milk, and transportation for the Tibetans living there. However, the regulatory network that drive this hypoxic adaptation remain elusive.ResultsThe heart tissues from LeiRoqi (LWQY) yak and their related cattle (Bos Taurus) breeds, which are two native cattle breeds located in high altitude (HAC) and low altitude (LAC) regions, respectively, were collected for RNA sequencing. A total of 178 co-differentially expressed protein-coding transcripts (co-DETs) were discovered in each of the LAC-vs-LWQY and LAC-vs-HAC comparison groups, including NFATC2, NFATC1, ENPP2, ACSL4, BAD, and many other genes whose functions were reported to be associated with the immune-system, endocrine-system, and lipid metabolism. Two and 230 lncRNA transcripts were differentially expressed in the LAC-vs-LWQY and LAC-vs-HAC comparisons’ respectively, but no lncRNA transcripts that were co-differentially expressed. Among the 58 miRNAs that were co-differentially expressed, 18 were up-regulated and 40 were down-regulated. In addition, 640 (501 up-regulated and 139 down-regulated) and 152 (152 up-regulated and one down-regulated) circRNAs showed differential expression in LAC-vs-LWQY and LAC-vs-HAC comparison groups, respectively, and 53 up-regulated co-differentially expressed circRNAs were shared. Multiple co-DETs, which are the targets of miRNAs/lncRNAs, are significantly enriched in high-altitude adaptation related processes, such as, T cell receptor signaling, VEGF signaling, and cAMP signaling. A competing endogenous RNA (ceRNA) network was constructed by integrating the competing relationships among co-differentially expressed mRNAs, miRNAs, lncRNAs and circRNAs. Furthermore, the hypoxic adaptation related ceRNA network was constructed, and the six mRNAs (MAPKAPK3, PXN, NFATC2, ATP7A, DIAPH1, and F2R), the eight miRNAs (including miR-195), and 15 circRNAs (including novel-circ-017096 and novel-circ-018073) are proposed as novel and promising candidates for regulation of hypoxic adaptation in the heart.ConclusionIn conclusion, the data recorded in the present study provides new insights into the molecular network of high-altitude adaptation along with more detailed information of protein-coding transcripts and non-coding transcripts involved in this physiological process, the detailed mechanisms behind how these transcripts “crosstalk” with each other during the plateau adaptation are worthy of future research efforts.


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