North African fox genomes show signatures of repeated introgression and adaptation to life in deserts
Research output: Contribution to journal › Journal article › Research › peer-review
Standard
North African fox genomes show signatures of repeated introgression and adaptation to life in deserts. / L. Rocha, Joana; Silva, Pedro; Santos, Nuno; Nakamura, Mónia; Afonso, Sandra; Qninba, Abdeljebbar; Boratynski, Zbyszek; Sudmant, Peter H.; Brito, José C.; Nielsen, Rasmus; Godinho, Raquel.
In: Nature Ecology and Evolution, Vol. 7, No. 8, 2023, p. 1267-1286.Research output: Contribution to journal › Journal article › Research › peer-review
Harvard
APA
Vancouver
Author
Bibtex
}
RIS
TY - JOUR
T1 - North African fox genomes show signatures of repeated introgression and adaptation to life in deserts
AU - L. Rocha, Joana
AU - Silva, Pedro
AU - Santos, Nuno
AU - Nakamura, Mónia
AU - Afonso, Sandra
AU - Qninba, Abdeljebbar
AU - Boratynski, Zbyszek
AU - Sudmant, Peter H.
AU - Brito, José C.
AU - Nielsen, Rasmus
AU - Godinho, Raquel
N1 - Publisher Copyright: © 2023, The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer Nature Limited.
PY - 2023
Y1 - 2023
N2 - Elucidating the evolutionary process of animal adaptation to deserts is key to understanding adaptive responses to climate change. Here we generated 82 individual whole genomes of four fox species (genus Vulpes) inhabiting the Sahara Desert at different evolutionary times. We show that adaptation of new colonizing species to a hot arid environment has probably been facilitated by introgression and trans-species polymorphisms shared with older desert resident species, including a putatively adaptive 25 Mb genomic region. Scans for signatures of selection implicated genes affecting temperature perception, non-renal water loss and heat production in the recent adaptation of North African red foxes (Vulpes vulpes), after divergence from Eurasian populations approximately 78 thousand years ago. In the extreme desert specialists, Rueppell’s fox (V. rueppellii) and fennec (V. zerda), we identified repeated signatures of selection in genes affecting renal water homeostasis supported by gene expression and physiological differences. Our study provides insights into the mechanisms and genetic underpinnings of a natural experiment of repeated adaptation to extreme conditions.
AB - Elucidating the evolutionary process of animal adaptation to deserts is key to understanding adaptive responses to climate change. Here we generated 82 individual whole genomes of four fox species (genus Vulpes) inhabiting the Sahara Desert at different evolutionary times. We show that adaptation of new colonizing species to a hot arid environment has probably been facilitated by introgression and trans-species polymorphisms shared with older desert resident species, including a putatively adaptive 25 Mb genomic region. Scans for signatures of selection implicated genes affecting temperature perception, non-renal water loss and heat production in the recent adaptation of North African red foxes (Vulpes vulpes), after divergence from Eurasian populations approximately 78 thousand years ago. In the extreme desert specialists, Rueppell’s fox (V. rueppellii) and fennec (V. zerda), we identified repeated signatures of selection in genes affecting renal water homeostasis supported by gene expression and physiological differences. Our study provides insights into the mechanisms and genetic underpinnings of a natural experiment of repeated adaptation to extreme conditions.
U2 - 10.1038/s41559-023-02094-w
DO - 10.1038/s41559-023-02094-w
M3 - Journal article
C2 - 37308700
AN - SCOPUS:85163136082
VL - 7
SP - 1267
EP - 1286
JO - Nature Ecology & Evolution
JF - Nature Ecology & Evolution
SN - 2397-334X
IS - 8
ER -
ID: 359131117