Journal Article

The yak genome and adaptation to life at high altitude

Shi, Peng, Yin, Ye, Wang, Zhaofeng, Lang, Yongshan, Zhang, Jian, Ma, Jian, Zhang, Guojie, Liao, Shengguang, Qian, Wubin, Xia, Jinquan, Auvil, Loretta, Liu, Wenbin, Lenstra, Johannes A, Liu, Jianquan, Pan, Shengkai, Lu, Xu, Wang, Yan, Zhang, Shengxiang, Zhang, Dawei, Ye, Zhiqiang, Lewin, Harris A, Zang, Xuetao, Wu, Yi, Qiu, Qiang, Ma, Tao, Zhang, Yan, Yang, Huanming, Cooper, David N, Zhong, Yang, Wang, Jian, Hu, Quanjun, Kim, Jaebum, Long, Ruijun, Zhou, Ran, Yonezawa, Takahiro, Wang, Jun, Wang, Kun, Cao, Changchang, Ma, Hui, Larkin, Denis M, Wang, Junyi, Wang, Lizhong, Qian, Xiaoju, Zhang, Yingmei, Huang, Zhiyong, Hasegawa, Masami, Capitanu, Boris, Hou, Haolong

2012

Overview

Jianquan Liu and colleagues report the draft genome sequence of the domestic yak, Bos grunniens . Their comparative analyses with low-altitude cattle provide insights into high-altitude adaptation in the yak. Domestic yaks ( Bos grunniens ) provide meat and other necessities for Tibetans living at high altitude on the Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau and in adjacent regions. Comparison between yak and the closely related low-altitude cattle ( Bos taurus ) is informative in studying animal adaptation to high altitude. Here, we present the draft genome sequence of a female domestic yak generated using Illumina-based technology at 65-fold coverage. Genomic comparisons between yak and cattle identify an expansion in yak of gene families related to sensory perception and energy metabolism, as well as an enrichment of protein domains involved in sensing the extracellular environment and hypoxic stress. Positively selected and rapidly evolving genes in the yak lineage are also found to be significantly enriched in functional categories and pathways related to hypoxia and nutrition metabolism. These findings may have important implications for understanding adaptation to high altitude in other animal species and for hypoxia-related diseases in humans.

• Publisher: Nature Publishing Group US,Nature Publishing Group
• Subject: 631/181/759/2467 / 631/208/212/748 / 692/1807/244 / Acclimatization - genetics / Agriculture / Altitude / Animal Genetics and Genomics / Animal species / Animals / Base Sequence / Biological and medical sciences / Biomedical and Life Sciences / Biomedicine / Bos grunniens / Bos taurus / Cancer Research / Cattle / Cattle - genetics / Cattle - physiology / Chromosomes / DNA - genetics / Evolution & development / Evolution, Molecular / Female / Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology / Gene expression / Gene Function / Genetic aspects / Genetics of eukaryotes. Biological and molecular evolution / Genome / Genomes / Genomics / Human Genetics / Hypoxia / letter / Mammals / Molecular Sequence Data / Multigene Family / Phylogeny / Proteins / Selection, Genetic / Species Specificity / Yaks