Sika deer are known to prefer oak leaves,which are rich in tannins and toxic to most mammals;however,the genetic mechanisms underlying their unique ability to adapt to living in the jungle are still unclear.In identif...Sika deer are known to prefer oak leaves,which are rich in tannins and toxic to most mammals;however,the genetic mechanisms underlying their unique ability to adapt to living in the jungle are still unclear.In identifying the mechanism responsible for the tolerance of a highly toxic diet,we have made a major advancement by explaining the genome of sika deer.We generated the first high-quality,chromosome-level genome assembly of sika deer and measured the correlation between tannin intake and RNA expression in 15 tissues through 180 experiments.Comparative genome analyses showed that the UGT and CYP gene families are functionally involved in the adaptation of sika deer to high-tannin food,especially the expansion of the UGT family 2 subfamily B of UGT genes.The first chromosome-level assembly and genetic characterization of the tolerance to a highly toxic diet suggest that the sika deer genome may serve as an essential resource for understanding evolutionary events and tannin adaptation.Our study provides a paradigm of comparative expressive genomics that can be applied to the study of unique biological features in non-model animals.展开更多
基金This work was supported by the National Key R&D Program of China(Grant No.2018YFD0502204)the Agricultural Science and Technology Innovation Program of China(Grant No.CAAS-ASTIP-2019-ISAPS)+1 种基金the Special Animal Genetic Resources Platform of National Scientific and Technical Infrastructure Center(Grant No.NSTIC TZDWZYK2019)the Sika deer Genome Project of China(Grant No.20140309016YY).
文摘Sika deer are known to prefer oak leaves,which are rich in tannins and toxic to most mammals;however,the genetic mechanisms underlying their unique ability to adapt to living in the jungle are still unclear.In identifying the mechanism responsible for the tolerance of a highly toxic diet,we have made a major advancement by explaining the genome of sika deer.We generated the first high-quality,chromosome-level genome assembly of sika deer and measured the correlation between tannin intake and RNA expression in 15 tissues through 180 experiments.Comparative genome analyses showed that the UGT and CYP gene families are functionally involved in the adaptation of sika deer to high-tannin food,especially the expansion of the UGT family 2 subfamily B of UGT genes.The first chromosome-level assembly and genetic characterization of the tolerance to a highly toxic diet suggest that the sika deer genome may serve as an essential resource for understanding evolutionary events and tannin adaptation.Our study provides a paradigm of comparative expressive genomics that can be applied to the study of unique biological features in non-model animals.
