Overexpression of Genes Associated with Hypoxia in Cattle Adapted to Trans Himalayan Region of Ladakh

Ladakh is an important part of the Trans-Himalayan region located between the Kunlun mountain range in the north and the main Great Himalayas to the south in the state of Jammu and Kashmir of India. The local cattle from Leh and Ladakh region, known as "Ladakhi cattle" is a unique germplasm having an excellent adaptation potential to high altitude hypobaric stress. In the present study, an effort was made to evaluate the transcriptional pattern of hypoxia inducing factor-1 (HIF-1) and several of its regulated genes in PBMCs of local Ladakhi cattle, Holstein Frisian crosses, Jersey (exotic) maintained at high altitude region and Sahiwal (Bos indicus) and Karan Fries (cross bred) cattle maintained in tropical environment. The combined data set indicated increased expression of HIF-1 and its regulated genes viz., glucose transporter 1 (GLUT1), vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF), and hexokinase (HK2) in high altitude cattle indicating their importance in maintaining cellular homeostasis during high altitude hypoxia. The data indicated that hypoxia associated genes accumulated under hypoxic conditions are part of an essential adaptive component for adaptation to the high altitude of the trans-Himalayan region. In contrary, higher expression of molecular chaperons' viz., HSP70 and HSP90 in tropically adapted cattle give tolerance to high ambient temperature prevalent in tropical condition. In conclusion, HIF-1 and its regulatory genes could be termed as important candidates for producing homeostatic responses to hypoxia in cattle populations reared in higher altitudes of the Trans-Himalayan region.