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Myocardial gene expression of the tinamou reflects the physiological challenges of having a small heart
Author(s) -
Österman Hanna,
Ekström Andreas,
GaritanoZavala Álvaro,
Altimiras Jordi
Publication year - 2013
Publication title -
the faseb journal
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.709
H-Index - 277
eISSN - 1530-6860
pISSN - 0892-6638
DOI - 10.1096/fasebj.27.1_supplement.1189.7
Subject(s) - biology , medicine , gene expression , muscle hypertrophy , endocrinology , gene , genetics
Tinamous are an ancient family of neotropical flying birds that occupy diverse habitats from lowland jungle forests to the Andean high plateaus. Tinamous have a very small heart, closer to that of non‐avian reptiles than to birds with similar living styles. Even though tinamous are endothermic, the small heart size compromises oxygen transport, aerobic metabolism and thermoregulation. This led us to hypothesize that gene expression in the heart of tinamous would reflect the basal scenario from which neognate birds, with larger hearts and higher aerobic capacity, evolved. A microarray analysis was performed to determine differences in gene expression between tinamou and chicken myocardium. Key genes involved in cardiac remodeling and hypertrophy were up regulated in tinamous, including PI3Kα, TGFβII, TAK1, FGF and PDGFRα. This indicates elevated activity in hypertrophic pathways and is consistent with previous indications of left ventricular hypertrophy in N.ornata . Up regulation of key glycolytic enzymes was also observed, namely PFK‐1, FBPase‐2 and ALDOB, indicating an increase in cardiac glycolytic metabolism in N.ornata compared to high altitude chickens. These gene expression differences reflect the physiological challenges of being endothermic while having a small heart. Supported by FORMAS Centre of Excellence in Animal Welfare Science and career grant from Linköpings universitet to JA.