Genomic analysis identified a potential novel molecular mechanism for high-altitude adaptation in sheep at the Himalayas

• DOI: 10.1038/srep29963
• Publication Date: 2016-07-22T10:11:49Z
• Authors: Neena Amatya Gork...; Kunzhe Dong; Min Yang; Shen Song; Adiljian Kader; Bhola Shankar Shr...; Xiaohong He; Qianjun Zhao; Yabin Pu; Xiangchen Li; James Kijas; Weijun Guan; Jianlin Han; Lin Jiang; Yuehui Ma
• Keywords: SNP

Abstract Sheep has successfully adapted to the extreme high-altitude Himalayan region. To identify genes underlying such adaptation, we genotyped genome-wide single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) of four major sheep breeds living at different altitudes in Nepal and downloaded SNP array data from additional Asian Middle East breeds. Using a d i value-based genomic comparison between eight lowland breeds, discovered most differentiated variants locus FGF-7 ( Keratinocyte growth factor-7 ), which was previously reported as good protective candidate for pulmonary injuries. We further found upstream that appears contribute divergence signature. First, occurred an extremely conserved site. Second, showed increasing allele frequency with elevated altitude Nepalese sheep. Third, electrophoretic mobility shift assays (EMSA) analysis using human lung cancer cells revealed allele-specific DNA-protein interactions. thus hypothesized gene potentially enhances function by regulating its expression level through altering binding specific transcription factors. Especially, not implicated previous studies other species, suggesting potential novel adaptive mechanism high Himalayas.