| Author |
Ren, Ji-long Nevo, Eviatar Zhao, Yang Tang, Jia-wei Li, Kexin Du, Ji-zeng Chen, Xue-qun Cao, Yi-bin Ben-abu, Yuval Yang, Zhi |
| Description |
Author Affiliation: Zhao Y ( Division of Neurobiology and Physiology, Department of Basic Medical Sciences, School of Medicine, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou 310058, China); Tang JW ( Division of Neurobiology and Physiology, Department of Basic Medical Sciences, School of Medicine, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou 310058, China); Yang Z ( Division of Neurobiology and Physiology, Department of Basic Medical Sciences, School of Medicine, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou 310058, China); Cao YB ( Division of Neurobiology and Physiology, Department of Basic Medical Sciences, School of Medicine, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou 310058, China); Ren JL ( Division of Neurobiology and Physiology, Department of Basic Medical Sciences, School of Medicine, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou 310058, China); Ben-Abu Y ( Projects and Physics Section, Sapir Academic College, D.N. Hof Ashkelon 79165, Israel); Li K ( Institute of Evolution, University of Haifa, Haifa 3498838, Israel); Chen XQ ( Division of Neurobiology and Physiology, Department of Basic Medical Sciences, School of Medicine, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou 310058, China); Du JZ ( Division of Neurobiology and Physiology, Department of Basic Medical Sciences, School of Medicine, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou 310058, China); Nevo E ( Institute of Evolution, University of Haifa, Haifa 3498838, Israel); |
| Abstract |
Epigenetic modifications play significant roles in adaptive evolution. The tumor suppressor p53, well known for controlling cell fate and maintaining genomic stability, is much less known as a master gene in environmental adaptation involving methylation modifications. The blind subterranean mole rat Spalax eherenbergi superspecies in Israel consists of four species that speciated peripatrically. Remarkably, the northern Galilee species Spalax galili (2n = 52) underwent adaptive ecological sympatric speciation, caused by the sharply divergent chalk and basalt ecologies. This was demonstrated by mitochondrial and nuclear genomic evidence. Here we show that the expression patterns of the p53 regulatory pathway diversified between the abutting sympatric populations of S. galili in sharply divergent chalk-basalt ecologies. We identified higher methylation on several sites of the p53 promoter in the population living in chalk soil (chalk population). Site mutagenesis showed that methylation on these sites linked to the transcriptional repression of p53 involving Cut-Like Homeobox 1 (Cux1), paired box 4 (Pax 4), Pax 6, and activator protein 1 (AP-1). Diverse expression levels of p53 between the incipiently sympatrically speciating chalk-basalt abutting populations of S. galili selectively affected cell-cycle arrest but not apoptosis. We hypothesize that methylation modification of p53 has adaptively shifted in supervising its target genes during sympatric speciation of S. galili to cope with the contrasting environmental stresses of the abutting divergent chalk-basalt ecologies. |
| Subject Keyword |
DNA Methylation Genes, P53 Spalax Genetics Metabolism Adaptation, Biological Animals Calcium Carbonate Cell Cycle Checkpoints Ecosystem Evolution, Molecular Gene Expression Genetic Speciation Genetics, Population Lung Promoter Regions, Genetic Silicates Classification Sympatry Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't Multidisciplinary |
