Comparative analysis of peripheral blood reveals transcriptomic adaptations to extreme environments on the Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau in the gray wolf (Canis lupus chanco)

Molecular adaptations to life on the Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau (QTP) have been detected in the genomes of many native animals, but the contribution of variations in gene expression to high-altitude adaptation remains to be determined. Here, we sequenced the peripheral blood transcriptomes of the lowland wolf and the Tibetan wolf (Canis lupus chanco), an endemic top predator on the QTP, and analyzed how the gene expression pattern has become...