Dussex Nicolas, Bieker Vanessa C, Sun Xin, Le Moullec Mathilde, Ersmark Erik, Røed Knut H, Speakman John R, Loe Leif Egil, Dalén Love, Hansen Brage B, Martin Michael D
Department of Natural History, NTNU University Museum, Trondheim 7012, Norway.
Department of Population Analysis and Monitoring, Swedish Museum of Natural History, Stockholm 114 18, Sweden.
Genome Biol Evol. 2025 Sep 2;17(9). doi: 10.1093/gbe/evaf160.
Studying adaptation to extreme climates is essential for understanding evolutionary processes and how species evolve and persist under changing environmental conditions, such as climate warming. Here, we investigate the genomic basis of adaptations in the Svalbard reindeer (Rangifer tarandus platyrhynchus), an endemic subspecies that colonized the High Arctic approximately 7,000 years ago and developed a suite of adaptations for survival under conditions of extreme cold, changes in day length, and resource scarcity. Applying scans of selection, functional analysis of coding region variation, and characterization of copy number variation across reindeer populations from Svalbard, mainland Norway, mainland Russia, and Novaya Zemlya, our comparative genomics approach identified 150 genomic regions that are differentiated in Svalbard reindeer relative to mainland reindeer (R. tarandus). These genomic regions include genes linked to fat metabolism, energy conservation, cold tolerance, body size, fur morphology, and seasonal circadian rhythm. Our study highlights the advantages of using distinct approaches to uncover the genomic basis of adaptations and provides a path for future research into the evolution of species in similar environments.
研究对极端气候的适应性对于理解进化过程以及物种在不断变化的环境条件（如气候变暖）下如何进化和生存至关重要。在此，我们研究了斯瓦尔巴德驯鹿（Rangifer tarandus platyrhynchus）适应性的基因组基础，这是一个特有亚种，大约在7000年前殖民到北极地区，并在极端寒冷、日照长度变化和资源稀缺的条件下形成了一系列生存适应性。通过对来自斯瓦尔巴德、挪威大陆、俄罗斯大陆和新地岛的驯鹿种群进行选择扫描、编码区变异的功能分析以及拷贝数变异的表征，我们的比较基因组学方法确定了150个相对于大陆驯鹿（R. tarandus）在斯瓦尔巴德驯鹿中分化的基因组区域。这些基因组区域包括与脂肪代谢、能量守恒、耐寒性、体型、皮毛形态和季节性昼夜节律相关的基因。我们的研究突出了使用不同方法揭示适应性基因组基础的优势，并为未来研究类似环境中物种的进化提供了一条途径。
