Transcriptomic analysis provides insights into the high-altitude adaptation in domestic goats

Purpose: Domestic goats distributed in a wide range of habitats and have evolved genetic adaptations to their local environmental conditions. The goal of this study s to investigate the dramatic gene expression changes of goats that are shaped by high altitude adaptation. Methods: We performed RNA-seq on 27 samples from the three hypoxia-sensitive tissues (heart, lung and skeletal muscle) in three indigenous populations residing in distinct altitudes (600 m, 2,000 m and 3,000 m). Results: We identified numerous differentially expressed genes which exhibited distinct expression patterns, and nonsynonymous SNVs-containing genes which highly differentiated between the high- and low-altitude populations. Conclusions: These identified genes have known or potential roles in hypoxia response, and enriched in functional gene categories potentially responsible for high altitude adaptation, are appealing candidates for further investigation of the adaptive evolution in harsh high-altitude environment. RNA-seq on 27 samples from the three tissues (heart, lung and skeletal muscle) in three indigenous populations residing in distinct altitudes (600 m, 2,000 m and 3,000 m)