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Loss of a gluconeogenic muscle enzyme contributed to adaptive metabolic traits in hummingbirds.
- Source :
-
Science (New York, N.Y.) [Science] 2023 Jan 13; Vol. 379 (6628), pp. 185-190. Date of Electronic Publication: 2023 Jan 12. - Publication Year :
- 2023
-
Abstract
- Hummingbirds possess distinct metabolic adaptations to fuel their energy-demanding hovering flight, but the underlying genomic changes are largely unknown. Here, we generated a chromosome-level genome assembly of the long-tailed hermit and screened for genes that have been specifically inactivated in the ancestral hummingbird lineage. We discovered that FBP2 (fructose-bisphosphatase 2), which encodes a gluconeogenic muscle enzyme, was lost during a time period when hovering flight evolved. We show that FBP2 knockdown in an avian muscle cell line up-regulates glycolysis and enhances mitochondrial respiration, coincident with an increased mitochondria number. Furthermore, genes involved in mitochondrial respiration and organization have up-regulated expression in hummingbird flight muscle. Together, these results suggest that FBP2 loss was likely a key step in the evolution of metabolic muscle adaptations required for true hovering flight.
Details
- Language :
- English
- ISSN :
- 1095-9203
- Volume :
- 379
- Issue :
- 6628
- Database :
- MEDLINE
- Journal :
- Science (New York, N.Y.)
- Publication Type :
- Academic Journal
- Accession number :
- 36634192
- Full Text :
- https://doi.org/10.1126/science.abn7050