The key behind the yaks’ high-altitude survival: their lung cells

In cold and oxygen-poor environments, few animals are able to adapt to these harsh conditions without causing serious health problems. One is the yak, a medium-sized bovine mammal with woolly fur native to the mountains of Central Asia and the Himalayas. Until very recently, it was a mystery how he managed to live on high.

Recently, a studying from the magazine Nature Communications exposed the genetic and cellular adaptations that allow these animals to survive at high altitudes where breathing is difficult. Its survival is explained by a type of pulmonary endothelial cell, specific for these mammalswhich plays an important role in their ability to live in hypoxic environments.

Both domestic yaks (good grunnies) like the savages (good mutus) live without complications in high altitude regions on the Tibetan plateau (between 3,000 and 6,000 meters above sea level) which are characterized by low concentrations of oxygen.

Unlike these powerful animals, non-native mammals, including humans, can suffer serious lung and heart problems after prolonged exposure to such conditions.

“Our future research aims to reveal at what point in time yaks developed their characteristic lung cells during their evolutionary process,” he tells SINC. Qi In Yangco-author of the study and researcher at the Northwest Institute of Plateau Biology (NWIPB) of the Chinese Academy of Sciences.

A high life thanks to genetics

To explore how yaks adapt to these environments, Qi-En Yang and other scientists combined genomic and transcriptomic data to present a highly detailed genome image of domestic and wild specimens, as well as a map of their different lung cell types.

In total, the scientists identified 127 genes that are expressed differently in yaks compared to European cattle and discovered a subtype of endothelial cell that is only found in the lung tissue of yaks.

It is believed that this cell can do yak blood vessels are tougher and fibrouswhich could help with the demanding task of breathing with relatively little oxygen.

The authors conclude that their findings provide insights into the genetic adaptations of these mammals to high-altitude environments and may have implications for our understanding of the different responses to low oxygen environments in other species.

Wild yak specimen. / Wei Liu

The evolution of endemic species

While this is the first special cell type suspected to have evolved to cope with low-oxygen conditions, the researchers hope that similar cells exist. in antelopes and deer They also live in the highlands.

These cells may be present in other animals that are endemic to the Qinghai Tibetan Plateau and have lived there for millions of years.

Qi-In Yang, NWIPB

“We believe these cells may be present in other animals that are endemic to the Qinghai Tibetan Plateau and have lived there for millions of years, such as the Tibetan antelope,” says Qi-En Yang.

On the contrary, humans may not have themsince these have only occupied the plateau for about 30,000 years, then this evolutionary change would take longer to arrive compared to other species.