Digestive morphology of two species of<i>Abrothrix</i>(Rodentia, Cricetidae): comparison of populations from contrasting environments

Naya, Daniel E.; Feijoo, Matías; Lessa, Enrique P.; Pardiñas, Ulises Francisco J.; Teta, Pablo; Tomasco, Ivanna H.; Valdez, Lourdes; D’Elı́a, Guillermo

doi:10.1644/13-mamm-a-261

Cited by 14 publications

(22 citation statements)

References 29 publications

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“…The detoxification and drug metabolism functions of the kidney could be activated by the secondary compounds of the plants consumed in each of the environments (see Haley, Lamb, Franklin, Constance, & Dearing, ; Haley, Lamb, Franklin, Constance, & Denise Dearing, ). It has been reported that the diet of A. olivacea differs considerably between the forest and the steppe (Silva () and references therein); in the forest, the diet is predominantly herbivorous and animals have larger intestines, whereas in the more arid environments, the diet becomes more omnivorous–granivorous and animals have smaller intestines (Naya et al., ). Therefore, over‐represented pathways related to drug metabolism found almost exclusively on the forest samples may be due to the load of secondary plant compounds in an herbivorous diet.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

An association between differential expression and genetic divergence in the Patagonian olive mouse (Abrothrix olivacea)

et al. 2018

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Recent molecular studies have found striking differences between desert-adapted species and model mammals regarding water conservation. In particular, aquaporin 4, a classical gene involved in water regulation of model species, is absent or not expressed in the kidneys of desert-adapted species. To further understand the molecular response to water availability, we studied the Patagonian olive mouse Abrothrix olivacea, a species with an unusually broad ecological tolerance that exhibits a great urine concentration capability. The species is able to occupy both the arid Patagonian steppe and the Valdivian and Magellanic forests. We sampled 95 olive mouse specimens from four localities (two in the steppe and two in the forests) and analysed both phenotypic variables and transcriptomic data to investigate the response of this species to the contrasting environmental conditions. The relative size of the kidney and the ratio of urine to plasma concentrations were, as expected, negatively correlated with annual rainfall. Expression analyses uncovered nearly 3,000 genes that were differentially expressed between steppe and forest samples and indicated that this species resorts to the "classical" gene pathways for water regulation. Differential expression across biomes also involves genes that involved in immune and detoxification functions. Overall, genes that were differentially expressed showed a slight tendency to be more divergent and to display an excess of intermediate allele frequencies, relative to the remaining loci. Our results indicate that both differential expression in pathways involved in water conservation and geographical allelic variation are important in the occupation of contrasting habitats by the Patagonian olive mouse.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

An association between differential expression and genetic divergence in the Patagonian olive mouse (Abrothrix olivacea)

et al. 2018

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“…Similar SLLF and HSLF structures were observed in hamsters but not in mice (Supplementary Figure S1). Similar to other mammals, rodent feeding behavior, digestive tract morphology, and body weight are closely associated (Naya et al, 2014). Laboratory mice originate from the wild Mus musculus and are usually omnivorous animals.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Unique Running Pattern and Mucosal Morphology Found in the Colon of Cotton Rats

et al. 2020

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Cotton rats are one of the experimental rodents used for testing different infectious and non-infectious diseases, including gastrointestinal tract pathology. However, their intestinal morphological characteristics are still poorly understood. Here, we clarified the anatomical and histological characteristics of the cecum and ascending colon (AC) of young (1-3-month old), adult (4-6-month old), and old (10-12-month old) cotton rats. The large intestine (LI) in cotton rats is composed of the cecum, AC, transverse and descending colons, and rectum, and is similar to that of other mammals. The AC begins with a double or triple spiral loop-like flexure (SLLF) and ends with a coupled horseshoe-like flexure (HSLF). A single longitudinal mucosal fold (SLMF) was found at the beginning of the AC along the mesentery line and developed with age. Furthermore, the SLMF contained several lymphatic nodules (LNs), indicating their role in digestive and immunological functions. Small and large protuberant LNs were found in the cecum and SLLF, respectively, whereas thin and flat LNs were observed in the HSLF and transverse colon, respectively. Regarding sex-related differences, adult females had a significantly longer AC with a higher number of SLLFs compared to males. The SLMF length and LN number were also longer and higher, respectively, in adult females compared to adult males. These are crucial findings, indicating the presence of sex-related differences in the morphology of the LI in cotton rats, and ours is the first study to discover a sex difference in the mammalian LI lining. Our study clarified the unique morphology of the LI in cotton rats, which could serve as the principal model for elucidating species-specific digestive tract functions and gastrointestinal disorders.

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“…This indicates that species differ more in the expression level of the top 5% expressed genes than they do in their whole transcriptomes. It is interesting to note that this pattern holds even when samples of both species include specimens collected in forest and steppes, habitats that differ by an order of magnitude in precipitation and consequently in productivity (see [ 15 ]). Future studies would clarify the consistency of this observation, as well as its causal factors.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Future studies would clarify the consistency of this observation, as well as its causal factors. In this regard, an avenue worth pursuing is the assessment of the influence of distinct diet composition ([ 38 ] see also [ 15 ]), a factor that also affects water homeostasis [ 39 ], [ 40 ], and thus, possibly, also the composition of kidney transcriptomes. Likewise, considering that A .…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Characterization of the Kidney Transcriptome of the Long-Haired Mouse Abrothrix hirta (Rodentia, Sigmodontinae) and Comparison with That of the Olive Mouse A. olivacea

et al. 2015

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To understand how small mammals cope with the challenge of water homeostasis is a matter of interest for ecologists and evolutionary biologists. Here we take a step towards the understanding of the transcriptomic functional response of kidney using as a model the long–haired mouse (Abrothrix hirta) a species that distributes across Patagonian steppes and Austral temperate rainforests in Argentina and Chile. Specifically, we i) characterize the renal transcriptome of A. hirta, and ii) compare it with that—already available—of the co-generic and co-distributed A. olivacea. Renal mRNA transcripts from 16 specimens of A. hirta from natural populations were analyzed. Over 500 million Illumina paired-end reads were assembled de novo under two approaches, an individual assembly for each specimen, and a single in-silico normalized joint assembly including all reads from all specimens. The total number of annotated genes was similar with both strategies: an average of 14,956 in individual assemblies and 14,410 in the joint assembly. Overall, 15,463 distinct genes express in the kidney of A. hirta. Transcriptomes of A. hirta and A. olivacea were similar in terms of gene abundance and composition: 95.6% of the genes of A. hirta were also found in A. olivacea making their functional profiles also similar. However, differences in the transcriptome of these two species were observed in the set of highly expressed genes, in terms of private genes for each species and the functional profiles of highly expressed genes. As part of the novel transcriptome characterization, we provide distinct gene lists with their functional annotation that would constitute the basis for further research on these or any other species of the subfamily Sigmodontinae, which includes about 400 living species distributed from Tierra del Fuego to southern United States.

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Digestive morphology of two species ofAbrothrix(Rodentia, Cricetidae): comparison of populations from contrasting environments

Cited by 14 publications

References 29 publications

An association between differential expression and genetic divergence in the Patagonian olive mouse (Abrothrix olivacea)

An association between differential expression and genetic divergence in the Patagonian olive mouse (Abrothrix olivacea)

Unique Running Pattern and Mucosal Morphology Found in the Colon of Cotton Rats

Characterization of the Kidney Transcriptome of the Long-Haired Mouse Abrothrix hirta (Rodentia, Sigmodontinae) and Comparison with That of the Olive Mouse A. olivacea

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