High-altitude adaptation and incipient speciation in geladas

Chiou, K. L.; Janiak, M. C.; Schneider-Crease, I.; Sen, S.; Ayele, F.; Chuma, I. S.; Knauf, S.; Lemma, A.; Signore, A. V.; D'Ippolito, A. M.; Abebe, B.; Haile, A. A.; Kebede, F.; Fashing, P. J.; Nguyen, N.; McCann, C.; Houck, M. L.; Wall, J. D.; Burrell, A. S.; Bergey, C. M.; Rogers, J.; Phillips-Conroy, J. E.; Jolly, C. J.; Melin, A. D.; Storz, J. F.; Lu, A.; Beehner, J. C.; Bergman, T. J.; Snyder-Mackler, N.

doi:10.1101/2021.09.01.458582

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bioRxiv · 10.1101/2021.09.01.458582

High-altitude adaptation and incipient speciation in geladas

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Abstract

Survival at high altitude requires adapting to extreme conditions such as environmental hypoxia. To understand high-altitude adaptations in a primate, we assembled the genome of the gelada (Theropithecus gelada), an endemic Ethiopian monkey, and complemented it with population resequencing, hematological, and morphometric data. Unexpectedly, we identified a novel karyotype that may contribute to reproductive isolation between gelada populations. We also identified genomic elements including protein-coding sequences and gene families that exhibit accelerated changes in geladas and may contribute to high-altitude adaptation. Our findings lend insight into mechanisms of speciation and adaptation while providing promising avenues for functional hypoxia research.

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Chiou, K. L., Janiak, M. C., Schneider-Crease, I., Sen, S., Ayele, F., Chuma, I. S., Knauf, S., Lemma, A., Signore, A. V., D'Ippolito, A. M., Abebe, B., Haile, A. A., Kebede, F., Fashing, P. J., Nguyen, N., McCann, C., Houck, M. L., Wall, J. D., Burrell, A. S., Bergey, C. M., Rogers, J., Phillips-Conroy, J. E., Jolly, C. J., Melin, A. D., Storz, J. F., Lu, A., Beehner, J. C., Bergman, T. J., Snyder-Mackler, N.. 2021-09-01. High-altitude adaptation and incipient speciation in geladas. https://doi.org/10.1101/2021.09.01.458582

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