Genomic analysis of Tibetan ground tits identifies molecular adaptations associated with cooperative breeding  

作　　者：Yi Wang Chen Wang Wei Hong Shilin Tian Qin Lu Bing-Jun Wang Huaiming Jin Nima Zhuoma Xin Lu Huabin Zhao 

机构地区：[1]Department of Ecology,Tibetan Centre for Ecology and Conservation at Wuhan University—Tibet University,Hubei Key Laboratory of Cell Homeostasis,College of Life Sciences,Wuhan University,Wuhan 430072,China [2]Research Center for Ecology,College of Science,Tibet University,Lhasa 850000,China

出　　处：《Current Zoology》2023年第5期620-630,共11页动物学报（英文版）

基　　金：supported in part by the National Natural Science Foundation of China(31672272,31722051);Fundamental Research Funds for the Central Universities(2042021kf0217);Natural Science Foundation of the Hubei Province(2019CFA075);Plateau Ecology Youth Innovative Fund of Wuhan University(to H.Z.);X.L.was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China(31830085);Second Tibetan Plateau Scientific Expedition and Research program(2019QZKK0501).

摘　　要：Cooperative breeding is a sophisticated altruistic social behavior that helps social animals to adapt to harsh environments.The Tibetan ground tit,Pseudopodoces humilis,is a high-altitude bird endemic to the Tibetan plateau.Recently,it has become an exciting system for studying the evolution of facultative cooperative breeding.To test for molecular adaptations associated with cooperative breeding,we resequenced the whole genome of ground tits from 6 wild populations that display remarkable variation in the frequency of cooperative breeding.Population structure analyses showed that the 6 populations were divided into 4 lineages,which is congruent with the major geographical distribution of the sampling sites.Using genome-wide selective sweep analysis,we identified putative positively selected genes(PSGs)in groups of tits that displayed high and low cooperative breeding rates.The total number of PSGs varied from 146 to 722 in high cooperative breeding rate populations,and from 272 to 752 in low cooperative breeding rate populations.Functional enrichment analysis of these PSGs identified several significantly enriched ontologies related to oxytocin signaling,estrogen signaling,and insulin secretion.PSGs involved in these functional ontologies suggest that molecular adaptations in hormonal regulation may have played important roles in shaping the evolution of cooperative breeding in the ground tit.Taken together,our study provides candidate genes and functional ontologies involved in molecular adaptations associated with cooperative breeding in Tibetan ground tits,and calls for a better understanding of the genetic roles in the evolution of cooperative breeding.

关 键 词：cooperative breeding ground tit population genomics social behavior 

分 类 号：Q95[生物学—动物学]