Genomic landscape of the signals of positive natural selection in populations of Northern Eurasia: A view from Northern Russia.

Natural selection of beneficial genetic variants played a critical role in human adaptation to a wide range of environmental conditions. Northern Eurasia, despite its severe climate, is home to lots of ethnically diverse populations. The genetic variants associated with the survival of these populat...

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Main Authors: Andrey V Khrunin, Gennady V Khvorykh, Alexei N Fedorov, Svetlana A Limborska
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Public Library of Science (PLoS) 2020-01-01
Series:PLoS ONE
Online Access:https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0228778
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author Andrey V Khrunin
Gennady V Khvorykh
Alexei N Fedorov
Svetlana A Limborska
author_facet Andrey V Khrunin
Gennady V Khvorykh
Alexei N Fedorov
Svetlana A Limborska
author_sort Andrey V Khrunin
collection DOAJ
description Natural selection of beneficial genetic variants played a critical role in human adaptation to a wide range of environmental conditions. Northern Eurasia, despite its severe climate, is home to lots of ethnically diverse populations. The genetic variants associated with the survival of these populations have hardly been analyzed. We searched for the genomic signatures of positive selection in (1) the genome-wide microarray data of 432 people from eight different northern Russian populations and (2) the whole-genome sequences of 250 people from Northern Eurasia from a public repository through testing the extended haplotype homozigosity (EHH) and direct comparison of allele frequency, respectively. The 20 loci with the strongest selection signals were characterized in detail. Among the top EHH hits were the NRG3 and NBEA genes, which are involved in the development and functioning of the neural system, the PTPRM gene, which mediates cell-cell interactions and adhesion, and a region on chromosome 4 (chr4:28.7-28.9 Mb) that contained several loci affiliated with different classes of non-coding RNAs (RN7SL101P, MIR4275, MESTP3, and LINC02364). NBEA and the region on chromosome 4 were novel selection targets that were identified for the first time in Western Siberian populations. Cross-population comparisons of EHH profiles suggested a particular role for the chr4:28.7-28.9 Mb region in the local adaptation of Western Siberians. The strongest selection signal identified in Siberian sequenced genomes was formed by six SNPs on chromosome 11 (chr11:124.9-125.2 Mb). This region included well-known genes SLC37A2 and PKNOX2. SLC37A2 is most-highly expressed in the gut. Its expression is regulated by vitamin D, which is often deficient in northern regions. The PKNOX2 gene is a transcription factor of the homeobox family that is expressed in the brain and many other tissues. This gene is associated with alcohol addiction, which is widespread in many Northern Eurasian populations.
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spelling doaj.art-db57d164c1c24d89a6067e36d1ebe2f92023-11-04T05:35:41ZengPublic Library of Science (PLoS)PLoS ONE1932-62032020-01-01152e022877810.1371/journal.pone.0228778Genomic landscape of the signals of positive natural selection in populations of Northern Eurasia: A view from Northern Russia.Andrey V KhruninGennady V KhvorykhAlexei N FedorovSvetlana A LimborskaNatural selection of beneficial genetic variants played a critical role in human adaptation to a wide range of environmental conditions. Northern Eurasia, despite its severe climate, is home to lots of ethnically diverse populations. The genetic variants associated with the survival of these populations have hardly been analyzed. We searched for the genomic signatures of positive selection in (1) the genome-wide microarray data of 432 people from eight different northern Russian populations and (2) the whole-genome sequences of 250 people from Northern Eurasia from a public repository through testing the extended haplotype homozigosity (EHH) and direct comparison of allele frequency, respectively. The 20 loci with the strongest selection signals were characterized in detail. Among the top EHH hits were the NRG3 and NBEA genes, which are involved in the development and functioning of the neural system, the PTPRM gene, which mediates cell-cell interactions and adhesion, and a region on chromosome 4 (chr4:28.7-28.9 Mb) that contained several loci affiliated with different classes of non-coding RNAs (RN7SL101P, MIR4275, MESTP3, and LINC02364). NBEA and the region on chromosome 4 were novel selection targets that were identified for the first time in Western Siberian populations. Cross-population comparisons of EHH profiles suggested a particular role for the chr4:28.7-28.9 Mb region in the local adaptation of Western Siberians. The strongest selection signal identified in Siberian sequenced genomes was formed by six SNPs on chromosome 11 (chr11:124.9-125.2 Mb). This region included well-known genes SLC37A2 and PKNOX2. SLC37A2 is most-highly expressed in the gut. Its expression is regulated by vitamin D, which is often deficient in northern regions. The PKNOX2 gene is a transcription factor of the homeobox family that is expressed in the brain and many other tissues. This gene is associated with alcohol addiction, which is widespread in many Northern Eurasian populations.https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0228778
spellingShingle Andrey V Khrunin
Gennady V Khvorykh
Alexei N Fedorov
Svetlana A Limborska
Genomic landscape of the signals of positive natural selection in populations of Northern Eurasia: A view from Northern Russia.
PLoS ONE
title Genomic landscape of the signals of positive natural selection in populations of Northern Eurasia: A view from Northern Russia.
title_full Genomic landscape of the signals of positive natural selection in populations of Northern Eurasia: A view from Northern Russia.
title_fullStr Genomic landscape of the signals of positive natural selection in populations of Northern Eurasia: A view from Northern Russia.
title_full_unstemmed Genomic landscape of the signals of positive natural selection in populations of Northern Eurasia: A view from Northern Russia.
title_short Genomic landscape of the signals of positive natural selection in populations of Northern Eurasia: A view from Northern Russia.
title_sort genomic landscape of the signals of positive natural selection in populations of northern eurasia a view from northern russia
url https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0228778
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