Transcriptome sequencing provides evidence of genetic assimilation in a toad-headed lizard at high altitude

Understanding how organisms adapt to the environment is a compelling question in modern evolutionary biology. Genetic assimilation provides an alternative hypothesis to explain adaptation, in which phenotypic plasticity is first triggered by environmental factors, followed by selection on genotypes that reduce the plastic expression of phenotypes. To investigate the evidence of genetic assimilation in a high-altitude dweller, the toad-headed agama Phr ynocephalus vlangalii, we conducted a translocation experiment by moving individuals from high-to low-altitude environments. We then measured their gene expression profiles by transcriptome sequencing in heart, liver and muscle, and compared them to two low-altitude species P. axillaris and P. fors ythii. The results showed that the general expression profile of P. vlangalii was similar to its viviparous relative P. fors ythii, however, the differentially expressed genes in the liver of P. vlangalii showed a distinct pattern compared to both the low-altitude species. In particular, several key genes (FASN, ACAA2 and ECI2) within fatty acid metabolic pathway were no longer differentially expressed in P. valgnalii, suggesting the loss of plasticity for this pathway after translocation. This study provides evidence of genetic assimilation in fatty acid metabolism that may have facilitated the adaptation to high-altitude for P. vlangalii.