Meeting Abstract

103.5  Sunday, Jan. 6  Mechanisms of hemoglobin adaptation in high-altitude vertebrates: insights from protein engineering STORZ, J. F.*; NATARAJAN, C.; PROJECTO-GARCIA, J.; MORIYAMA, H.; WEBER, R. E.; FAGO, A.; Univ. of Nebraska, Lincoln, NE; Univ. of Nebraska, Lincoln, NE; Univ. of Nebraska, Lincoln, NE; Univ. of Nebraska, Lincoln, NE; Aarhus Univ., Aarhus, Denmark; Aarhus Univ., Aarhus, Denmark jstorz2@unl.edu

Is it possible to predict which molecular mechanisms are most likely to contribute to biochemical adaptation? Can we predict which mutations – or which types of mutation – are most likely to contribute to adaptive changes in protein function? To address these questions about the inherent predictability of adaptive evolution at the molecular level, I’ll present results of recent research on molecular mechanisms of hemoglobin adaptation to high-altitude hypoxia in birds and small mammals. These studies integrate evolutionary analyses of sequence variation with experimental studies of hemoglobin function using site-directed mutagenesis.