Mitogenomics of endemic Ethiopian shrews: looking for footprints of adaptive evolution along a remarkable altitudinal gradient
-
Elena D. Zemlemerova
,
Valeria A. Komarova
and
Leonid A. Lavrenchenko
Abstract
Mitochondria provide most of energy in animal cells through oxidative phosphorylation; therefore, the evaluation of selective pressures on the mitochondrial genome can yield valuable insights into evolution of adaptations to different energy requirements within unique environments. The distribution of East African shrews is directly related to an altitudinal gradient, implying their high level of adaptive divergence and making them a unique model for revealing molecular mechanisms of the adaptation. Here we analysed signs of adaptive evolution in 17 mitogenomes of endemic Ethiopian white-toothed shrews (three ecotypes of Crocidura glassi s.l.) that replace each other in adjacent altitudinal belts of the Bale Massif, possibly indicating large adaptive divergence. To test this hypothesis, we used a combination of different methods besides classic tests of selection; we also analysed physicochemical changes of amino acid properties in protein-coding genes. None of the analyses yielded significant results on positive selection. We can theorize that purifying selection might have been a common selection pattern for mitochondrial genes in C. glassi s.l. ecotypes. Finally, different environmental adaptations – reflecting organisms’ various strategies and possibly important in white-toothed shrews – are discussed.
Funding source: Russian Science Foundation
Award Identifier / Grant number: №23-74-01098
Acknowledgments
We are indebted to the Ethiopian Wildlife Conservation Authority (EWCA) for the permission to work in the Bale Mountains National Park. We thank the warden and staff of the Bale Mountains National Park for the use of the Park buildings and equipment. We are grateful to the JERBE Coordinators Dr. Andrei Darkov (Joint Ethio-Russian Biological Expedition, Fourth Phase – JERBE-IV) and Ato Girma Yosef (Ethiopian Ministry of Science and Technology) for management of the expedition in the field and in Addis Ababa. The English language was corrected by shevchuk-editing.com.
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Research ethics: All fieldwork complied with legal regulations in Ethiopia and sampling was carried out with the permission of the Ethiopian Wildlife Conservation Authority (no. EWCA ref. no. 31/336/05; 20/03/2013).
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Informed consent: Not applicable.
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Author contributions: All authors have accepted responsibility for the entire content of the submitted manuscript and have approved it.
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Use of Large Language Models, AI and Machine Learning Tools: None declared.
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Conflict of interest: The authors state no conflict of interest.
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Research funding: This study was funded by the Russian Science Foundation (RSF) No. 23-74-01098 (https://rscf.ru/en/project/23-74-01098/).
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Data availability: All data are available in the Section of Mammalogy of the Zoological Museum of Moscow University and the sequences obtained can be accessed via GenBank.
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