Chromosomal Complement and Physiological Genomic Analyses of the Formosan Harvest Mouse (Micromys minutus)

• Main Author: 陳子和
• Other Authors: Lin, Liang-Kong
• Format: Others
• Language: zh-TW
• Published: 2019
• Online Access: http://ndltd.ncl.edu.tw/handle/hfwwc4

博士 === 東海大學 === 生命科學系 === 107 === The harvest mouse (Micromys minutus) has a wide range of geographic distribuation in the Euroasian continent and broad rage of vertical distribution in Taiwan. As the need of its special habitat requirement, the population distribution of the harvest mouse is affected by the landscape although its superior capacity to cope with natural perturbations. We studies the genetic component of the Formosan harvest mouse and compared with those of harvest mouse from other geographic locations. Our study confirmed the previously reported 2N number, fundamental number (FN), the shape and banding patterns of the chromosomes, including proposing the first ideogram of the harvest mouse. For further studies of its chromosomal evolution or comparision with other populations, the 18S rRNA gene of the harvest mouse was cloned and mapped to the metaphase chromosomes. By comparing the 18S rDNA sequences and X chromosome painting FISH, we also demonstrated that both are highly conserved across Micromys minutus, M. musculus, and R. norvegicus. To study the physiological mechanism involved in altitude acclimation, rat cDNA microarray was used to compare transcriptomic patterns of the skeletal muscle tissues taken from individuals native to the high-altitude environment and those transferred to the low-altitude captive site. Among 23,188 genes analyzed, only 47 were found to have differential expression (fold change > 4 or < −4, ANOVA p < 0.05). And after multiple testing correction with a false discovery rate (FDR), only the gene Tnfrsf12a was found more expressed in the low–altitude environment. The result was confirmed by quantitative polymerase chain reaction (q-PCR). Finding only one gene transcript with significant alteration suggests that transcriptomic response may not play a major role in high to low-altitude acclimation in harvest mouse. The behavior of the harvest mouse may also important for the altitude acclimation.