Selection and Introgression Facilitated the Adaptation of Chinese Native Endangered Cattle in Extreme Environments
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Abstract Although persistent efforts have identified and characterized a few candidate genes and related biological processes with potential functions in the adaptation of many species to extreme environments, few works have been conducted to determine the genomic basis of adaptation in endangered livestock breeds that have been living in extreme conditions for more than thousands of years. To fill this gap, we sequenced the whole genomes of nine individuals from three Chinese native endangered cattle breeds that are living in high‐altitude or arid environments. Phylogenetic and evolutionary history analyses of these three and other six breeds showed that the genetic structure of the cattle populations is primarily related to geographic location. Interestingly, we identified pervasive introgression from the yak to Zhangmu cattle (ZMC) that cover several genes (e.g., NOS2, EGLN1 and EPAS1) involved in the hypoxia response and previously identified as positive selection genes in other species, which suggested that the adaptive introgression from yak may have contributed to the adaptation of ZMC to high‐altitude environments. In addition, by contrasting the breeds in opposite living conditions, we revealed a set of candidate genes with various functions from hypoxia response, water metabolism, immune response and body shape change to embryo development and skeletal system development, etc., that may be related to high‐altitude or arid adaptation. Our research provides new insights into the recovery and adaptation of endangered native cattle and other species in extreme environments and valuable resources for future research on animal husbandry to cope with climate change.
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In Zhangmu cattle, hypoxia-adaptive genes EPAS1, EGLN1, and NOS2 were shown to be introgressed from yaks.
“In Zhangmu cattle, hypoxia-adaptive genes at the core of the hypoxia-inducible factor pathway, including EPAS1 and EGLN1, as well as the nitric oxide synthase gene NOS2, were shown to be introgressed from yaks [97].”
From The Genomic Landscape of Cattle: Domestication, Dispersal, and Adaptive Evolution (2026) · cites this paper as [97]
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Cited by
Sorted by citations
The Genomic Landscape of Cattle: Domestication, Dispersal, and Adaptive Evolution
Liu, Y., Dao, W., Gao, R., Fan, X., Yang, R., & Miao, Y. (2026) · Animals · doi:10.3390/ani16050776 · Cited by 1 · see citing works
Self-citation
- Authors
- Liu, X., Li, Z., Yan, Y., Li, Y., Wu, H., Pei, J., Yan, P., Yang, R., Guo, X., & Lan, X.
- Affiliations
- Northwest A&F University (CN)
- Lanzhou Institute of Husbandry and Pharmaceutical Sciences (CN)
- Corresponding author
- Yang, Ruolin
- Guo, Xian
- Lan, Xianyong
- ORCID
- Venue
- Evolutionary Applications
- Publisher
- Wiley
- Published
- 2020-12-14
- Volume
- 14
- Issue
- 3
- Pages
- 860-873
- ISSN
- 1752-4563 (ISSN-L)
- 1752-4571
- PMC
- PMC7980270
- OpenAlex
- W3100481938
- Cited by
- 23
- References
- 66
- Citations by year
- 2026: 4 · 2025: 5 · 2024: 2 · 2023: 6 · 2022: 4 · 2021: 2
- FWCI
- 1.75
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- gold
- doi.org
- Licence
- Locations
- Evolutionary Applications (publishedVersion, cc-by)
- PubMed Central (publishedVersion, cc-by)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- DOAJ (DOAJ: Directory of Open Access Journals) (submittedVersion, cc-by-sa)
- Topics
- Life Sciences › Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology › Genetics › Genetic and phenotypic traits in livestock
- Life Sciences › Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology › Genetics › Genetic diversity and population structure
- Life Sciences › Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology › Genetics › High Altitude and Hypoxia
- Keywords
- endangered livestock breeds, high-altitude adaptation, arid environment adaptation, hypoxia response, positive selection, EPAS1, EGLN1, NOS2, candidate genes, population structure, extreme environments, climate change adaptation
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