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Associating physiological functions with genomic variability in hibernating bats

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Abstract

The challenges of surviving periods of increased physiological stress elicit selective pressures that drive adaptations to overcome hardships. Bats in the Palearctic region survive winter in hibernation. We sampled single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in hibernating Myotis myotis bats using double-digest restriction site-associated DNA sequencing and we associated the genomic variability with the observed phenotypes reflecting hibernation site preference, body condition and bat health during hibernation. We did not observe genotype associations between the detrended body condition index, representing fat reserves, and functional genes involved in fat metabolism. Bat body surface temperature, reflecting roost selection, or roost warmth relative to the climate at the site did not show any associations with the sampled genotypes. We found SNPs with associations to macroclimatic variables, characterising the hibernaculum, and blood biochemistry, related to health of the bat. The genes in proximity of the associated SNPs were involved in metabolism, immune response and signal transduction, including chaperones, apoptosis and autophagy regulators and immune signalling molecules. The genetic adaptations included adaptation to tissue repair and protection against tissue damage.

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Data accessibility

All data presented in this study are available in the article, its supplementary information, and in the NCBI SRA database (BioProject ID: PRJNA681157).

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Acknowledgements

We thank Grzegorz Apoznanski, Tomas Heger, Vladimir Piacek and Jaroslav Veselý for technical assistance. The sequencing was performed in cooperation with EMBL GeneCore facility, Heidelberg, Germany. Computational resources were supplied by the “e-Infrastruktura CZ” (e-INFRA LM2018140) project provided within the Projects of Large Research, Development and Innovations Infrastructures project. This study was supported by The Czech Science Foundation (17-20286S) and Masaryk University (MUNI/A/1098/2019).

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MH, JP, JZ and NM conceptualized the study, MH and NM designed the study, EB, TB, TK, VS, JP and JZ collected the material, JP and VS measured blood parameters, MH and LP performed the laboratory experiments, MH, LP and NM analysed the data, MH and NM wrote the manuscript, and all authors reviewed the manuscript.

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Correspondence to Markéta Harazim.

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The authors declare no conflicts of interest.

Ethical statement

Collecting the bat samples from the hibernacula in the Czech Republic complied with Czech Law No. 114/1992 on Nature and Landscape Protection. The authors were authorised to handle wild bats according to the Czech Certificate of Professional Competence (No. CZ01341; §17, Czech Act No. 246/1992 Coll.). Sampling was based on permit No. SR/0007/JM/2017 issued by the Agency for Nature Conservation and Landscape Protection of the Czech Republic. Sampling in Poland was approved by the Regional Directorate for Environmental Protection in Gorzów Wielkopolski (No. WPN-I-6205.10.2015.AI). Experimental procedures were approved by the Ethical Committee of the Academy of Sciences of the Czech Republic (No. 169/2011). The II Local Ethical Commission in Wrocław approved sampling at the “Nietoperek” Natura 2000 site in Poland (No. 45/2015).

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Harazim, M., Piálek, L., Pikula, J. et al. Associating physiological functions with genomic variability in hibernating bats. Evol Ecol 35, 291–308 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10682-020-10096-4

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10682-020-10096-4

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