Genetic Adaptation of Schizothoracine Fish to the Phased Uplifting of the Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau.

ABSTRACT: Many species of Schizothoracine, a subfamily of Cyprinidae, are highly endemic to the Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau (QTP). To characterize the adaptive changes associated with the Schizothoracine expansion at high altitudes, we sequenced tissue transcriptomes of two highland and two subhighland Schizothoracines and analyzed gene evolution patterns by comparing with lowland cyprinids. Phylogenetic tree reconstruction and divergence time estimation indicated that the common ancestor of Schizothoracine fish lived ∼32.7 million years ago (MYA), coinciding with the timing of the first phase of QTP uplifting. Both high- and subhigh-Schizothoracines demonstrated elevated dN/dS ratios in the protein-coding genes compared to lowland cyprinids, from which some biological processes implicated

SUBMITTER: Zhang D 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5386875 | biostudies-literature | 2017 Apr

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature