Tibetan pig is one of the domestic animals indigenous to the Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau and has a distinctive suite of physiological traits that enable it to tolerate environmental hypoxia. These phenotypes are clearly the result of adaptation to this environment, but their genetic basis remains unclear. By analyzing the genome-wide selective sweeps in Tibetan pig, and Dahe pig that is distributed in moderate-altitude environment, the collection, conservation, innovation and utilization of animal resources team led by Professor Yuehui-Ma in Institute of Animal Science of CAAS, revealed several promising genes that may be responsible for high altitude adaptation in pig.

The research team identified 12 specific genes for Tibetan pig, six for Dahe pig, as well as 6 shared genes (VPS13A, GNA14, GDAP1, PARP8, FGF10 and ADAMTS16) that showed strong evidence of positive selection. All the 6 common candidates have some biological functions relevant to response to hypoxia, development of blood vessels and DNA repair, etc. Identification of these genes will further increase our understanding of genetic adaption to high-altitude environments in pig as well as other species. In addition, we will better understand the response to hypoxia, which has important implications for the prevention and treatment of mountain sickness and other hypoxia-related diseases.

The results of the study have been published in PLOS ONE available here: http://www.plosone.org/article/info:doi/10.1371/journal.pone.0110520#pone-0110520-g004