Abstract
Rodents of the genus Peromyscus have become increasingly utilized models for investigations into adaptive biology. This genus is particularly powerful for research linking genetics with adaptive physiology or behaviors, and recent research has capitalized on the unique opportunities afforded by the ecological diversity of these rodents. Well characterized genomic and transcriptomic data is intrinsic to explorations of the genetic architecture responsible for ecological adaptations. Therefore, this study characterizes the transcriptome of three male reproductive tissues (testes, epididymis and vas deferens) of Peromyscus eremicus (Cactus mouse), a desert specialist. The transcriptome assembly process was optimized in order to produce a high quality and substantially complete annotated transcriptome. This composite transcriptome was generated to characterize the expressed transcripts in the male reproductive tract of P. eremicus, which will serve as a crucial resource for future research investigating our hypothesis that the male Cactus mouse possesses an adaptive reproductive phenotype to mitigate water-loss from ejaculate. This study reports genes under positive selection in the male Cactus mouse reproductive transcriptome relative to transcriptomes from Peromyscus maniculatus (deer mouse) and Mus musculus. Thus, this study expands upon existing genetic research in this species, and we provide a high quality transcriptome to enable further explorations of our proposed hypothesis for male Cactus mouse reproductive adaptations to minimize seminal fluid loss.
Highlights
The rapid infusion of novel bioinformatics approaches in the fields of genomics and transcriptomics has enabled the coalescence of the fields of genetics, physiology and ecology into innovative studies for adaptation in evolutionary biology
Researchers have determined that renal adaptations are responsible for mitigating water loss in kangaroo rats via the genitourinary tract (Schmidt-Nielsen et al, 1948; SchmidtNielsen & Schmidt-Nielsen, 1952; Vimtrup & Schmidt-Nielsen, 1952; Urity et al, 2012), we present the novel hypothesis that there may be male reproductive adaptations to arid environments that allow desert specialists like the Cactus mouse to conserve water during reproduction
Previous efforts to elucidate the genomic basis of desert adaptations have described candidate genes for adaptive renal physiology in some desert specialized rodents (Marra et al, 2012; Marra, Romero & DeWoody, 2014), including the Cactus mouse (MacManes & Eisen, 2014)
Summary
The rapid infusion of novel bioinformatics approaches in the fields of genomics and transcriptomics has enabled the coalescence of the fields of genetics, physiology and ecology into innovative studies for adaptation in evolutionary biology. Studies on the biology of adaptation had previously been dominated by research painstakingly documenting morphological shifts associated with ecological gradients (e.g., in Peromyscus: Carleton, 1989; MacMillen & Garland, 1989). While the morphological basis as well as the physiological mechanisms of adaptation have been explored for a variety of. High-throughput sequencing technology of model and non-model organisms (Ellegren, 2014) enables evolutionary biologists to conduct genome and transcriptome wide analyses and link patterns of gene selection with functional adaptations
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