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Genome evolution

Evolutionary insights from comparative bear genomics

Nature Reviews Genetics volume 15, page 442 (2014)Cite this article

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The researchers were interested in understanding the genetic changes that species undergo when adapting to new ecological niches, particularly evolutionary changes related to the adaptation to a diet high in fat content. “By understanding the genetic components involved in this change, we might gain a better understanding of the genetic components related to fitness consequences of a high-fat diet in general,” explains Rasmus Nielsen, one of three corresponding authors of the study. “For example, polar bears have very high cholesterol levels, and it is unclear how they are able to cope with these when humans generally cannot.”

The population genomics approach involved deep sequencing and de novo assembly of a polar bear reference genome, as well as resequencing of 79 Greenlandic polar bear genomes and 10 brown bear genomes. Notably, the authors found that, in polar bears, the genes under strong positive selection — the genetic signature of adaptation — were highly enriched for genes with a function in the cardiovascular system in humans. For example, APOB, which encodes apolipoprotein B — the major protein component of low-density lipoprotein cholesterol — had the strongest selection signal in polar bears, the study showed.

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References

  1. Liu, S. et al. Population genomics reveal recent speciation and rapid evolutionary adaptation in polar bears. Cell 157, 785–794 (2014)

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  1. Linda Koch
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Koch, L. Evolutionary insights from comparative bear genomics. Nat Rev Genet 15, 442 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1038/nrg3757

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