INIBIOMA-CONICET, Universidad Nacional del Comahue, Quintral 1250, R8400FRF, San Carlos de Bariloche, Argentina.
IEGEBA-CONICET, Departamento de Ecología, Genética y Evolución, Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales, Universidad de Buenos Aires, Ciudad Universitaria, Intendente Güiraldes 2160, C1428EHA, Buenos Aires, Argentina.
Sci Rep. 2022 Aug 1;12(1):13180. doi: 10.1038/s41598-022-17118-x.
Cultural transformations of lifestyles and dietary practices have been key drivers of human evolution. However, while most of the evidence of genomic adaptations is related to the hunter-gatherer transition to agricultural societies, little is known on the influence of other major cultural manifestations. Shamanism is considered the oldest religion that predominated throughout most of human prehistory and still prevails in many indigenous populations. Several lines of evidence from ethno-archeological studies have demonstrated the continuity and importance of psychoactive plants in South American cultures. However, despite the well-known importance of secondary metabolites in human health, little is known about its role in the evolution of ethnic differences. Herein, we identified candidate genes of adaptation to hallucinogenic cactus in Native Andean populations with a long history of shamanic practices. We used genome-wide expression data from the cactophilic fly Drosophila buzzatii exposed to a hallucinogenic columnar cactus, also consumed by humans, to identify ortholog genes exhibiting adaptive footprints of alkaloid tolerance. Genomic analyses in human populations revealed a suite of ortholog genes evolving under recent positive selection in indigenous populations of the Central Andes. Our results provide evidence of selection in genetic variants related to alkaloids toxicity, xenobiotic metabolism, and neuronal plasticity in Aymara and Quechua populations, suggesting a possible process of gene-culture coevolution driven by religious practices.
生活方式和饮食实践的文化转变是人类进化的关键驱动因素。然而，尽管大多数与从狩猎采集者向农业社会转变相关的基因组适应证据，但对于其他主要文化表现形式的影响知之甚少。萨满教被认为是在人类史前时期占主导地位的最古老的宗教，至今仍在许多土著人群中盛行。来自民族考古学研究的几条证据表明，在南美文化中，致幻植物具有连续性和重要性。然而，尽管人们深知次生代谢物对人类健康的重要性，但对于它们在民族差异进化中的作用却知之甚少。在此，我们确定了具有长期萨满实践历史的安第斯原住民对迷幻仙人掌适应的候选基因。我们使用暴露于人类也食用的致幻柱状仙人掌的嗜仙人掌果蝇 Drosophila buzzatii 的全基因组表达数据，鉴定出表现出生物碱耐受适应性足迹的直系同源基因。在人类群体中的基因组分析揭示了在安第斯中部土著人群中，一组直系同源基因在最近的正选择下进化。我们的研究结果为与生物碱毒性、外源性代谢物和神经可塑性相关的遗传变异的选择提供了证据，在艾马拉和克丘亚人群中，这表明了可能存在一个由宗教实践驱动的基因-文化共同进化过程。
