Predictable convergence in hemoglobin function has unpredictable molecular underpinnings
Expect the unexpected
In convergent evolution, similar environmental conditions produce similar sets of adaptations. Does similar convergence exist in the molecular underpinnings of such morphological changes? Natarajan et al. looked across more than 50 species of birds that have adapted to different elevations to identify patterns of similarity in hemoglobin-oxygen binding affinity (see the Perspective by Bridgham). Increases in hemoglobin-oxygen binding affinity occurred in alpine species, but the molecular changes underlying the hemoglobin changes were variable. Thus, even in cases where adaptive phenotypic change is predictable, the molecular pathways to these changes may not be.
Abstract
To investigate the predictability of genetic adaptation, we examined the molecular basis of convergence in hemoglobin function in comparisons involving 56 avian taxa that have contrasting altitudinal range limits. Convergent increases in hemoglobin-oxygen affinity were pervasive among high-altitude taxa, but few such changes were attributable to parallel amino acid substitutions at key residues. Thus, predictable changes in biochemical phenotype do not have a predictable molecular basis. Experiments involving resurrected ancestral proteins revealed that historical substitutions have context-dependent effects, indicating that possible adaptive solutions are contingent on prior history. Mutations that produce an adaptive change in one species may represent precluded possibilities in other species because of differences in genetic background.
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Science
Volume 354 | Issue 6310
21 October 2016
21 October 2016
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Copyright © 2016, American Association for the Advancement of Science.
Submission history
Received: 19 April 2016
Accepted: 20 July 2016
Published in print: 21 October 2016
Acknowledgments
This work was funded by grants from the U.S. NIH (HL087216), the U.S. NSF (IOS-0949931, MCB-1517636, and MCB-1516660), and the Danish Council for Independent Research (10-084-565 and 4181-00094). We thank E. Petersen, H. Moriyama, and A. Kumar for assistance in the laboratory and C. Meiklejohn and K. Montooth for helpful suggestions. All experimental data are tabulated in the supplementary materials, and sequence data are archived in GenBank under accession numbers KX240692 to KX241466.
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