Genomic insights into the mystery of mouse mummies on the summits of Atacama volcanoes.
Genomic insights into the mystery of mouse mummies on the summits of Atacama volcanoes.
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对阿塔卡马火山顶上老鼠木乃伊之谜的基因组见解。
DOI：
10.1016/j.cub.2023.08.081
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发表时间：
2023
期刊：
影响因子：
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通讯作者：
Good,JeffreyM
中科院分区：
文献类型：
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作者：
Storz,JayF;Liphardt,Schuyler;Quiroga-Carmona,Marcial;Bautista,NaimM;Opazo,JuanC;Wheeler,TimothyB;D'Elía,Guillermo;Good,JeffreyM
通过对极端环境的科学探索，我们对动物生命极限的理解不断得到修正。在这里，我们报道了在智利和阿根廷阿塔卡马海峡海拔6029-6233米的三个不同的安第斯火山顶端发现的叶耳小鼠的木乃伊身体。这样的极端海拔以前被认为是哺乳动物完全不能居住的。与从附近的Volcán Llullaillaco山顶(6739米)1捕获的同一物种的活体标本相结合，山顶的木乃伊代表了世界上最高海拔的哺乳动物物理记录。我们还报道了P的染色体水平的基因组组装。结合全基因组重测序分析和放射性碳测年分析，可以深入了解顶峰小鼠的来源和年龄。放射性碳数据表明，最古老的木乃伊至多只有几个世纪的历史。基因组多态数据显示，顶端小鼠与周围高原较低海拔的同种小鼠之间具有高度的连续性。基因组数据还显示，顶峰老鼠中的雄性和雌性数量相等，并且有证据表明，来自同一顶峰的一些个体之间存在密切的亲缘关系。这些发现支持了海拔6000米的竹子居群的证据，并挑战了关于脊椎动物生活的环境极限和小型哺乳动物的生理耐受性的假设。
Our understanding of the limits of animal life is continually revised by scientific exploration of extreme environments. Here we report the discovery of mummified cadavers of leaf-eared mice,Phyllotis vaccarum, from the summits of three different Andean volcanoes at elevations 6,029–6,233 m above sea level in the Puna de Atacama in Chile and Argentina. Such extreme elevations were previously assumed to be completely uninhabitable by mammals. In combination with a live-captured specimen of the same species from the nearby summit of Volcán Llullaillaco (6,739 m)1, the summit mummies represent the highest altitude physical records of mammals in the world. We also report a chromosome-level genome assembly forP. vaccarumthat, in combination with a whole-genome re-sequencing analysis and radiocarbon dating analysis, provides insights into the provenance and antiquity of the summit mice. Radiocarbon data indicate that the most ancient of the mummies are, at most, a few centuries old. Genomic polymorphism data revealed a high degree of continuity between the summit mice and conspecifics from lower elevations in the surrounding Altiplano. Genomic data also revealed equal numbers of males and females among the summit mice and evidence of close kinship between some individuals from the same summits. These findings bolster evidence for resident populations ofPhyllotisat elevations >6,000 m and challenge assumptions about the environmental limits of vertebrate life and the physiological tolerances of small mammals.