Dataset Information

DNA analysis of a 30,000-year-old Urocitellus glacialis from northeastern Siberia reveals phylogenetic relationships between ancient and present-day arctic ground squirrels.

ABSTRACT: In contrast to the abundant fossil record of arctic ground squirrels, Urocitellus parryii, from eastern Beringia, only a limited number of fossils is known from its western part. In 1946, unnamed GULAG prisoners discovered a nest with three mummified carcasses of arctic ground squirrels in the permafrost sediments of the El'ga river, Yakutia, Russia, that were later attributed to a new species, Citellus (Urocitellus) glacialis Vinogr. To verify this assignment and to explore phylogenetic relationships between ancient and present-day arctic ground squirrels, we performed 14C dating and ancient DNA analyses of one of the El'ga mummies and four contemporaneous fossils from Duvanny Yar, northeastern Yakutia. Phylogenetic reconstructions, based on complete cytochrome b gene sequences of five Late Pleistocene arctic ground squirrels and those of modern U. parryii from 21 locations across western Beringia, provided no support for earlier proposals that ancient arctic ground squirrels from Siberia constitute a distinct species. In fact, we observed genetic continuity of the glacialis mitochondrial DNA lineage in modern U. parryii of the Kamchatka peninsula. When viewed in a broader geographic perspective, our findings provide new insights into the genetic history of U. parryii in Late Pleistocene Beringia.

SUBMITTER: Faerman M

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5311991 | biostudies-literature | 2017 Feb

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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DNA analysis of a 30,000-year-old Urocitellus glacialis from northeastern Siberia reveals phylogenetic relationships between ancient and present-day arctic ground squirrels.

Faerman Marina M Bar-Gal Gila Kahila GK Boaretto Elisabetta E Boeskorov Gennady G GG Dokuchaev Nikolai E NE Ermakov Oleg A OA Golenishchev Fedor N FN Gubin Stanislav V SV Mintz Eugenia E Simonov Evgeniy E Surin Vadim L VL Titov Sergei V SV Zanina Oksana G OG Formozov Nikolai A NA

Scientific reports 20170216

In contrast to the abundant fossil record of arctic ground squirrels, Urocitellus parryii, from eastern Beringia, only a limited number of fossils is known from its western part. In 1946, unnamed GULAG prisoners discovered a nest with three mummified carcasses of arctic ground squirrels in the permafrost sediments of the El'ga river, Yakutia, Russia, that were later attributed to a new species, Citellus (Urocitellus) glacialis Vinogr. To verify this assignment and to explore phylogenetic relatio ...[more]

PMID: 28205612

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Project description:Hibernation is energy saving adaptation involving suppression of activity to survive in highly seasonal environments. Immobility and disuse generate muscle loss in most mammalian species. In contrast to other mammals, bears and ground squirrels demonstrate limited muscle atrophy over the physical inactivity of winter hibernation. This suggests that hibernating mammals have adaptive mechanisms to prevent disuse muscle atrophy. To identify common transcriptional program underlying molecular mechanisms preventing muscle loss, we conducted a large-scale gene expression screening in hind limb muscles comparing hibernating and summer active black bears and arctic ground squirrels by the use of custom 9,600 probe cDNA microarrays. The molecular pathway analysis showed an elevated proportion of overexpressed genes involved in all stages of protein biosynthesis and ribosome biogenesis in muscle of both species during hibernation that implies induction of translation at different hibernation states. The induction of protein biosynthesis likely contributes to attenuation of disuse muscle atrophy through prolonged periods of immobility and starvation. This adaptive mechanism allows hibernating mammals to maintain full musculoskeletal function and preserve mobility during and immediately after hibernation, thus promoting survival. The lack of directional changes in genes of protein catabolic pathways does not support the importance of metabolic suppression for preserving muscle mass during winter. Coordinated reduction of multiply genes involved in oxidation reduction and glucose metabolism detected in both species is consistent with metabolic suppression and lower energy demand in skeletal muscle during inactivity of hibernation. Arctic ground squirrels sampled during winter hibernation were compared with the animals sampled during summer. Muscle was hybridized on a custom 9,600 probes nylon membrane microarray platform. Ten in late torpor, four in early arousal, then in late arousal were studied in experiments.

Dataset Information

DNA analysis of a 30,000-year-old Urocitellus glacialis from northeastern Siberia reveals phylogenetic relationships between ancient and present-day arctic ground squirrels.

Publications

DNA analysis of a 30,000-year-old Urocitellus glacialis from northeastern Siberia reveals phylogenetic relationships between ancient and present-day arctic ground squirrels.

Similar Datasets

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