Molecular evolution of stress-response gene Leptin in high-altitude Chinese snub-nosed monkeys (Rhinopithecus genus)

Chinese snub-nosed monkeys (genus Rhinopithecus, subfamily Colobinae), including R. bieti, R. brelichi and R. roxellana, are well-known as the non-human primates with the highest known altitudinal distribution. They represent an interesting model organism of adaptation to the extreme environmental stresses. However, no study at the molecular level has yet been reported for the high-altitude adaptation in Chinese snub-nosed monkeys. Leptin, as an adipocyte-derived hormone, is believed to play an important role in energy homeostasis in adaptation to high altitude environments. In the present study, we sequenced and compared leptin sequences of the Chinese snub-nosed monkeys (R. bieti and R. roxellana) with their lowland close relative R. avunculus and other Colobines. Unexpectedly, no amino acid changes were observed in the 7 Colobinae species examined, including the 2 Chinese snub-nosed monkeys, indicating no difference in the evolutionary pattern of the Leptin gene between high-altitude monkeys and their lowland counterparts. In contrast to a previous finding of adaptive evolution of Leptin gene in plateau pikas, our study suggests that this gene may not have an important role in high-altitude adaptation of Chinese snub-nosed monkeys. Other nuclear genes associated with energy metabolism, or mitochondrial genes, are most likely to be involved the molecular mechanism underlying adaptation of these monkeys to cold and hypoxia associated with the highland environment.