Elevated Blood Hemoglobin in Different Cavefish Populations Evolves Through Diverse Hemoglobin Gene Expression Patterns.

ABSTRACT: Cave-dwelling animals thrive in isolated caves despite the pressures of darkness, starvation, and reduced oxygen. Prior work revealed that Astyanax cave-dwelling morphs derived from different cave localities express significantly higher levels of blood hemoglobin compared to surface-dwelling fish. Interestingly, this elevation is maintained in different populations of cavefish, despite captive rearing in normal oxygen conditions. We capitalized on the consistent response of elevated hemoglobin in captive cavefish, which were derived from geographically distinct regions, to determine if this elevation is underpinned by expression of the same Hb genes. Blood hemoglobin proteins are encoded by a large family of hemoglobin (Hb) gene family members, which demonstrate coordinated expression patt

SUBMITTER: Boggs TE 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC12046277 | biostudies-literature | 2025 Jun

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature