Dr Andreanna Welch a.j.welch@durham.ac.uk
Associate Professor
Polar Bears Exhibit Genome-Wide Signatures of Bioenergetic Adaptation to Life in the Arctic Environment
Welch, A.J.; Bedoya-Reina, O.C.; Carretero-Paulet, L.; Miller, W.; Rode, K.D.; Lindqvist, C.
Authors
O.C. Bedoya-Reina
L. Carretero-Paulet
W. Miller
K.D. Rode
C. Lindqvist
Abstract
Polar bears (Ursus maritimus) face extremely cold temperatures and periods of fasting, which might result in more severe energetic challenges than those experienced by their sister species, the brown bear (U. arctos). We have examined the mitochondrial and nuclear genomes of polar and brown bears to investigate whether polar bears demonstrate lineage-specific signals of molecular adaptation in genes associated with cellular respiration/energy production. We observed increased evolutionary rates in the mitochondrial cytochrome c oxidase I gene in polar but not brown bears. An amino acid substitution occurred near the interaction site with a nuclear-encoded subunit of the cytochrome c oxidase complex and was predicted to lead to a functional change, although the significance of this remains unclear. The nuclear genomes of brown and polar bears demonstrate different adaptations related to cellular respiration. Analyses of the genomes of brown bears exhibited substitutions that may alter the function of proteins that regulate glucose uptake, which could be beneficial when feeding on carbohydrate-dominated diets during hyperphagia, followed by fasting during hibernation. In polar bears, genes demonstrating signatures of functional divergence and those potentially under positive selection were enriched in functions related to production of nitric oxide (NO), which can regulate energy production in several different ways. This suggests that polar bears may be able to fine-tune intracellular levels of NO as an adaptive response to control trade-offs between energy production in the form of adenosine triphosphate versus generation of heat (thermogenesis).
Citation
Welch, A., Bedoya-Reina, O., Carretero-Paulet, L., Miller, W., Rode, K., & Lindqvist, C. (2014). Polar Bears Exhibit Genome-Wide Signatures of Bioenergetic Adaptation to Life in the Arctic Environment. Genome Biology and Evolution, 6(2), 433-450. https://doi.org/10.1093/gbe/evu025
Journal Article Type | Article |
---|---|
Acceptance Date | Jan 28, 2014 |
Publication Date | Feb 6, 2014 |
Deposit Date | Mar 7, 2016 |
Publicly Available Date | Mar 7, 2016 |
Journal | Genome Biology and Evolution |
Publisher | Oxford University Press |
Peer Reviewed | Peer Reviewed |
Volume | 6 |
Issue | 2 |
Pages | 433-450 |
DOI | https://doi.org/10.1093/gbe/evu025 |
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Copyright Statement
Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the Society for Molecular Biology and Evolution 2014. This work is written by US Government employees and is in the public domain in the US.
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