Data from: Exosomes in mammals with greater habitat variability contain more proteins and RNAs

Factors determining habitat variability are poorly understood despite possible explanations based on genome and physiology. This is because previous studies only focused on primary measures such as genome size and body size. In this study, we hypothesize that specific gene functions determine habitat variability in order to explore new factors beyond primary measures. We comprehensively evaluate the relationship between gene functions and the climate envelope while statistically controlling for potentially confounding effects by using data on the habitat range, genome, body size and metabolism of various mammals. Our analyses show that the number of proteins and RNAs contained in exosomes is predominantly associated with the climate envelope. This finding indicates the importance of exosomes to habitat range expansion of mammals and provides a new hypothesis for the relationship between the genome and habitat variability.

尽管已有基于基因组（genome）与生理学的潜在解释，但学界对栖息地变异的决定因素仍缺乏充分阐释。究其根源，既往研究仅聚焦于基因组大小、体型等基础度量指标。为探索基础度量指标之外的新型影响因素，本研究提出特定基因功能决定栖息地变异的研究假说。本研究整合多种哺乳动物的栖息地范围、基因组、体型及代谢数据，在统计控制潜在混杂效应的前提下，全面评估基因功能与气候包络（climate envelope）之间的关联。分析结果显示，外泌体（exosomes）所含蛋白质与RNA的数量，与气候包络存在显著的主导性关联。该发现揭示了外泌体在哺乳动物栖息地范围扩张中的关键作用，同时为基因组与栖息地变异之间的关联提供了全新的研究假说。