scholarly journals “Into and Out of” the Qinghai‐Tibet Plateau and the Himalayas: Centers of origin and diversification across five clades of Eurasian montane and alpine passerine birds

2020 ◽  
Vol 10 (17) ◽  
pp. 9283-9300
Author(s):  
Martin Päckert ◽  
Adrien Favre ◽  
Jan Schnitzler ◽  
Jochen Martens ◽  
Yue‐Hua Sun ◽  
...  
2018 ◽  
Vol 115 (8) ◽  
pp. 1865-1870 ◽  
Author(s):  
Xiaojia Zhu ◽  
Yuyan Guan ◽  
Anthony V. Signore ◽  
Chandrasekhar Natarajan ◽  
Shane G. DuBay ◽  
...  

When different species experience similar selection pressures, the probability of evolving similar adaptive solutions may be influenced by legacies of evolutionary history, such as lineage-specific changes in genetic background. Here we test for adaptive convergence in hemoglobin (Hb) function among high-altitude passerine birds that are native to the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau, and we examine whether convergent increases in Hb–O2 affinity have a similar molecular basis in different species. We documented that high-altitude parid and aegithalid species from the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau have evolved derived increases in Hb–O2 affinity in comparison with their closest lowland relatives in East Asia. However, convergent increases in Hb–O2 affinity and convergence in underlying functional mechanisms were seldom attributable to the same amino acid substitutions in different species. Using ancestral protein resurrection and site-directed mutagenesis, we experimentally confirmed two cases in which parallel substitutions contributed to convergent increases in Hb–O2 affinity in codistributed high-altitude species. In one case involving the ground tit (Parus humilis) and gray-crested tit (Lophophanes dichrous), parallel amino acid replacements with affinity-enhancing effects were attributable to nonsynonymous substitutions at a CpG dinucleotide, suggesting a possible role for mutation bias in promoting recurrent changes at the same site. Overall, most altitude-related changes in Hb function were caused by divergent amino acid substitutions, and a select few were caused by parallel substitutions that produced similar phenotypic effects on the divergent genetic backgrounds of different species.


2021 ◽  
Vol 166 ◽  
pp. 104093
Author(s):  
Fei Peng ◽  
Wenjuan Zhang ◽  
Chimin Lai ◽  
Chengyang Li ◽  
Quangang You ◽  
...  

Author(s):  
Deyan Ge ◽  
Anderson Feijó ◽  
Zhixin Wen ◽  
Alexei V Abramov ◽  
Liang Lu ◽  
...  

Abstract For organisms to survive and prosper in a harsh environment, particularly under rapid climate change, poses tremendous challenges. Recent studies have highlighted the continued loss of megafauna in terrestrial ecosystems and the subsequent surge of small mammals, such as rodents, bats, lagomorphs, and insectivores. However, the ecological partitioning of these animals will likely lead to large variation in their responses to environmental change. In the present study, we investigated the evolutionary history and genetic adaptations of white-bellied rats (Niviventer Marshall, 1976), which are widespread in the natural terrestrial ecosystems in Asia but also known as important zoonotic pathogen vectors and transmitters. The southeastern Qinghai-Tibet Plateau (QHTP) was inferred as the origin center of this genus, with parallel diversification in temperate and tropical niches. Demographic history analyses from mitochondrial and nuclear sequences of Niviventer demonstrated population size increases and range expansion for species in Southeast Asia, and habitat generalists elsewhere. Unexpectedly, population increases were seen in N. eha, which inhabits the highest elevation among Niviventer species. Genome scans of nuclear exons revealed that among the congeneric species, N. eha has the largest number of positively selected genes. Protein functions of these genes are mainly related to olfaction, taste and tumor suppression. Extensive genetic modification presents a major strategy in response to global changes in these alpine species.


Author(s):  
Fang‐Fang Li ◽  
Kang Zhao ◽  
Hou‐Liang Lu ◽  
Guang‐Qian Wang ◽  
Jun Qiu

2020 ◽  
Vol 13 (1) ◽  
pp. 196
Author(s):  
Mengmeng Meng ◽  
Weiguo Fan ◽  
Jianchang Lu ◽  
Xiaobin Dong ◽  
Hejie Wei

Qinghai-Tibet Plateau is a typical resource-rich but economically backward region in western China, and it is of great urgency to improve human well-being. Combined with previous scholars’ research and the characteristics of Qinghai-Tibet Plateau, this paper constructs an index system of human well-being including four dimensions: income and consumption, means of production, means of subsistence, and resource acquisition ability. Then, it uses generalized matrix method estimations to measure the influence of energy utilization and economic development on human well-being and makes a regression analysis on the influence of energy utilization and economic development on human well-being in various provinces in this region. It is found that per capita GDP and coke utilization promote the well-being of all dimensions, while the urban registered unemployment rate only promotes the well-being of means of subsistence. The utilization of gasoline and natural gas promotes income and consumption and inhibits the means of subsistence and resource acquisition ability, but they have opposite effects on means of production. The impacts of energy utilization and economic development in different provinces on human well-being are different. This study is of great significance to the related research aiming at improving people’s livelihood and promoting regional development.


Author(s):  
Gangqin Li ◽  
Yao Lin ◽  
Shengnan Lan ◽  
Jing Zou ◽  
Songfan Li ◽  
...  

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