Molecular basis of hemoglobin adaptation in the high-flying bar-headed goose.

ABSTRACT: During the adaptive evolution of a particular trait, some selectively fixed mutations may be directly causative and others may be purely compensatory. The relative contribution of these two classes of mutation to adaptive phenotypic evolution depends on the form and prevalence of mutational pleiotropy. To investigate the nature of adaptive substitutions and their pleiotropic effects, we used a protein engineering approach to characterize the molecular basis of hemoglobin (Hb) adaptation in the high-flying bar-headed goose (Anser indicus), a hypoxia-tolerant species renowned for its trans-Himalayan migratory flights. To test the effects of observed substitutions on evolutionarily relevant genetic backgrounds, we synthesized all possible genotypic intermediates in the line of descent connect

SUBMITTER: Natarajan C 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5903655 | biostudies-literature | 2018 Apr

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature