小柯机器人

美国蒙大拿大学Jeffrey M. Good等研究人员合作揭示白尾长耳大野兔伪装的演变对过去和未来季节性气候的影响。2023年3月24日出版的《科学》杂志发表了这项成果。

研究人员表明，白尾长耳大野兔（Lepus townsendii）的浅色与深色的季节性皮毛可以跟踪雪的覆盖，主要由内皮素受体B型（EDNRB）、柯林丝氨酸肽酶（CORIN）和agouti信号蛋白（ASIP）的遗传变异决定。冬天的颜色变异与这些基因的等位基因有很大的差异，反映了对祖先和引进变异的选择。预测的雪盖减少可能会引起广泛的伪装不匹配。然而，预测具有深色冬装变异的模拟种群会迅速适应，从而提供一个基于性状的遗传框架来促进演化救援。这些发现表明，气候变化适应的遗传基础可以为保护提供信息。

据悉，适应性特征的遗传基础很少被用来预测种群对气候变化的未来脆弱性。

附：英文原文

Title: The evolution of white-tailed jackrabbit camouflage in response to past and future seasonal climates

Author: Mafalda S. Ferreira, Timothy J. Thurman, Matthew R. Jones, Liliana Farelo, Alexander V. Kumar, Sebastian M. E. Mortimer, John R. Demboski, L. Scott Mills, Paulo C. Alves, José Melo-Ferreira, Jeffrey M. Good

Issue&Volume: 2023-03-24

Abstract: The genetic basis of adaptive traits has rarely been used to predict future vulnerability of populations to climate change. We show that light versus dark seasonal pelage in white-tailed jackrabbits (Lepus townsendii) tracks snow cover and is primarily determined by genetic variation at endothelin receptor type B (EDNRB), corin serine peptidase (CORIN), and agouti signaling protein (ASIP). Winter color variation was associated with deeply divergent alleles at these genes, reflecting selection on both ancestral and introgressed variation. Forecasted reductions in snow cover are likely to induce widespread camouflage mismatch. However, simulated populations with variation for darker winter pelage are predicted to adapt rapidly, providing a trait-based genetic framework to facilitate evolutionary rescue. These discoveries demonstrate how the genetic basis of climate change adaptation can inform conservation.

DOI: ade3984

Source: https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/science.ade3984