Identifying signatures of natural selection in Tibetan and Andean populations using dense genome scan data.

ABSTRACT: High-altitude hypoxia (reduced inspired oxygen tension due to decreased barometric pressure) exerts severe physiological stress on the human body. Two high-altitude regions where humans have lived for millennia are the Andean Altiplano and the Tibetan Plateau. Populations living in these regions exhibit unique circulatory, respiratory, and hematological adaptations to life at high altitude. Although these responses have been well characterized physiologically, their underlying genetic basis remains unknown. We performed a genome scan to identify genes showing evidence of adaptation to hypoxia. We looked across each chromosome to identify genomic regions with previously unknown function with respect to altitude phenotypes. In addition, groups of genes functioning in oxygen metabolism and se

SUBMITTER: Bigham A 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC2936536 | biostudies-literature | 2010 Sep

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature