Elephantid Genomes Reveal the Molecular Bases of Woolly Mammoth Adaptations to the Arctic
Woolly mammoths and living elephants are characterized by major phenotypic differences that have allowed them to live in very different environments. To identify the genetic changes that underlie the suite of woolly mammoth adaptations to extreme cold, we sequenced the nuclear genome from three Asia...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Elsevier
2015-07-01
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| Series: | Cell Reports |
| Online Access: | http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2211124715006397 |
| _version_ | 1819032726944088064 |
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| author | Vincent J. Lynch Oscar C. Bedoya-Reina Aakrosh Ratan Michael Sulak Daniela I. Drautz-Moses George H. Perry Webb Miller Stephan C. Schuster |
| author_facet | Vincent J. Lynch Oscar C. Bedoya-Reina Aakrosh Ratan Michael Sulak Daniela I. Drautz-Moses George H. Perry Webb Miller Stephan C. Schuster |
| author_sort | Vincent J. Lynch |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Woolly mammoths and living elephants are characterized by major phenotypic differences that have allowed them to live in very different environments. To identify the genetic changes that underlie the suite of woolly mammoth adaptations to extreme cold, we sequenced the nuclear genome from three Asian elephants and two woolly mammoths, and we identified and functionally annotated genetic changes unique to woolly mammoths. We found that genes with mammoth-specific amino acid changes are enriched in functions related to circadian biology, skin and hair development and physiology, lipid metabolism, adipose development and physiology, and temperature sensation. Finally, we resurrected and functionally tested the mammoth and ancestral elephant TRPV3 gene, which encodes a temperature-sensitive transient receptor potential (thermoTRP) channel involved in thermal sensation and hair growth, and we show that a single mammoth-specific amino acid substitution in an otherwise highly conserved region of the TRPV3 channel strongly affects its temperature sensitivity. |
| first_indexed | 2024-12-21T07:06:32Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-308877f45d9448138e4c521937ee48f1 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2211-1247 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-12-21T07:06:32Z |
| publishDate | 2015-07-01 |
| publisher | Elsevier |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Cell Reports |
| spelling | doaj.art-308877f45d9448138e4c521937ee48f12022-12-21T19:12:05ZengElsevierCell Reports2211-12472015-07-0112221722810.1016/j.celrep.2015.06.027Elephantid Genomes Reveal the Molecular Bases of Woolly Mammoth Adaptations to the ArcticVincent J. Lynch0Oscar C. Bedoya-Reina1Aakrosh Ratan2Michael Sulak3Daniela I. Drautz-Moses4George H. Perry5Webb Miller6Stephan C. Schuster7Department of Human Genetics, The University of Chicago, 920 East 58th Street, CLSC 319C, Chicago, IL 60637, USACenter for Comparative Genomics and Bioinformatics, Pennsylvania State University, 506B Wartik Lab, University Park, PA 16802, USACenter for Comparative Genomics and Bioinformatics, Pennsylvania State University, 506B Wartik Lab, University Park, PA 16802, USADepartment of Human Genetics, The University of Chicago, 920 East 58th Street, CLSC 319C, Chicago, IL 60637, USACenter for Comparative Genomics and Bioinformatics, Pennsylvania State University, 506B Wartik Lab, University Park, PA 16802, USADepartments of Anthropology and Biology, Pennsylvania State University, 513 Carpenter Building, University Park, PA 16802, USACenter for Comparative Genomics and Bioinformatics, Pennsylvania State University, 506B Wartik Lab, University Park, PA 16802, USACenter for Comparative Genomics and Bioinformatics, Pennsylvania State University, 506B Wartik Lab, University Park, PA 16802, USAWoolly mammoths and living elephants are characterized by major phenotypic differences that have allowed them to live in very different environments. To identify the genetic changes that underlie the suite of woolly mammoth adaptations to extreme cold, we sequenced the nuclear genome from three Asian elephants and two woolly mammoths, and we identified and functionally annotated genetic changes unique to woolly mammoths. We found that genes with mammoth-specific amino acid changes are enriched in functions related to circadian biology, skin and hair development and physiology, lipid metabolism, adipose development and physiology, and temperature sensation. Finally, we resurrected and functionally tested the mammoth and ancestral elephant TRPV3 gene, which encodes a temperature-sensitive transient receptor potential (thermoTRP) channel involved in thermal sensation and hair growth, and we show that a single mammoth-specific amino acid substitution in an otherwise highly conserved region of the TRPV3 channel strongly affects its temperature sensitivity.http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2211124715006397 |
| spellingShingle | Vincent J. Lynch Oscar C. Bedoya-Reina Aakrosh Ratan Michael Sulak Daniela I. Drautz-Moses George H. Perry Webb Miller Stephan C. Schuster Elephantid Genomes Reveal the Molecular Bases of Woolly Mammoth Adaptations to the Arctic Cell Reports |
| title | Elephantid Genomes Reveal the Molecular Bases of Woolly Mammoth Adaptations to the Arctic |
| title_full | Elephantid Genomes Reveal the Molecular Bases of Woolly Mammoth Adaptations to the Arctic |
| title_fullStr | Elephantid Genomes Reveal the Molecular Bases of Woolly Mammoth Adaptations to the Arctic |
| title_full_unstemmed | Elephantid Genomes Reveal the Molecular Bases of Woolly Mammoth Adaptations to the Arctic |
| title_short | Elephantid Genomes Reveal the Molecular Bases of Woolly Mammoth Adaptations to the Arctic |
| title_sort | elephantid genomes reveal the molecular bases of woolly mammoth adaptations to the arctic |
| url | http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2211124715006397 |
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