Ice-Age Climate Adaptations Trap the Alpine Marmot in a State of Low Genetic Diversity.

ABSTRACT: Some species responded successfully to prehistoric changes in climate [1, 2], while others failed to adapt and became extinct [3]. The factors that determine successful climate adaptation remain poorly understood. We constructed a reference genome and studied physiological adaptations in the Alpine marmot (Marmota marmota), a large ground-dwelling squirrel exquisitely adapted to the "ice-age" climate of the Pleistocene steppe [4, 5]. Since the disappearance of this habitat, the rodent persists in large numbers in the high-altitude Alpine meadow [6, 7]. Genome and metabolome showed evidence of adaptation consistent with cold climate, affecting white adipose tissue. Conversely, however, we found that the Alpine marmot has levels of genetic variation that are among the lowest for mammals, suc

SUBMITTER: Gossmann TI 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6538971 | biostudies-literature | 2019 May

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature