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Population genomics reveal recent speciation and rapid evolutionary adaptation in polar bears.

Publication ,  Journal Article
Liu, S; Lorenzen, ED; Fumagalli, M; Li, B; Harris, K; Xiong, Z; Zhou, L; Korneliussen, TS; Somel, M; Babbitt, C; Wray, G; Li, J; He, W ...
Published in: Cell
May 2014

Polar bears are uniquely adapted to life in the High Arctic and have undergone drastic physiological changes in response to Arctic climates and a hyper-lipid diet of primarily marine mammal prey. We analyzed 89 complete genomes of polar bear and brown bear using population genomic modeling and show that the species diverged only 479-343 thousand years BP. We find that genes on the polar bear lineage have been under stronger positive selection than in brown bears; nine of the top 16 genes under strong positive selection are associated with cardiomyopathy and vascular disease, implying important reorganization of the cardiovascular system. One of the genes showing the strongest evidence of selection, APOB, encodes the primary lipoprotein component of low-density lipoprotein (LDL); functional mutations in APOB may explain how polar bears are able to cope with life-long elevated LDL levels that are associated with high risk of heart disease in humans.

Duke Scholars

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Published In

Cell

DOI

EISSN

1097-4172

ISSN

0092-8674

Publication Date

May 2014

Volume

157

Issue

4

Start / End Page

785 / 794

Related Subject Headings

  • Ursidae
  • Genome
  • Genetics, Population
  • Gene Flow
  • Fatty Acids
  • Developmental Biology
  • Biological Evolution
  • Arctic Regions
  • Apolipoproteins B
  • Animals
 

Citation

APA
Chicago
ICMJE
MLA
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Liu, S., Lorenzen, E. D., Fumagalli, M., Li, B., Harris, K., Xiong, Z., … Wang, J. (2014). Population genomics reveal recent speciation and rapid evolutionary adaptation in polar bears. Cell, 157(4), 785–794. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cell.2014.03.054
Liu, Shiping, Eline D. Lorenzen, Matteo Fumagalli, Bo Li, Kelley Harris, Zijun Xiong, Long Zhou, et al. “Population genomics reveal recent speciation and rapid evolutionary adaptation in polar bears.Cell 157, no. 4 (May 2014): 785–94. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cell.2014.03.054.
Liu S, Lorenzen ED, Fumagalli M, Li B, Harris K, Xiong Z, et al. Population genomics reveal recent speciation and rapid evolutionary adaptation in polar bears. Cell. 2014 May;157(4):785–94.
Liu, Shiping, et al. “Population genomics reveal recent speciation and rapid evolutionary adaptation in polar bears.Cell, vol. 157, no. 4, May 2014, pp. 785–94. Epmc, doi:10.1016/j.cell.2014.03.054.
Liu S, Lorenzen ED, Fumagalli M, Li B, Harris K, Xiong Z, Zhou L, Korneliussen TS, Somel M, Babbitt C, Wray G, Li J, He W, Wang Z, Fu W, Xiang X, Morgan CC, Doherty A, O’Connell MJ, McInerney JO, Born EW, Dalén L, Dietz R, Orlando L, Sonne C, Zhang G, Nielsen R, Willerslev E, Wang J. Population genomics reveal recent speciation and rapid evolutionary adaptation in polar bears. Cell. 2014 May;157(4):785–794.
Journal cover image

Published In

Cell

DOI

EISSN

1097-4172

ISSN

0092-8674

Publication Date

May 2014

Volume

157

Issue

4

Start / End Page

785 / 794

Related Subject Headings

  • Ursidae
  • Genome
  • Genetics, Population
  • Gene Flow
  • Fatty Acids
  • Developmental Biology
  • Biological Evolution
  • Arctic Regions
  • Apolipoproteins B
  • Animals