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REVIEW article

Front. Genet.
Sec. Evolutionary and Population Genetics
Volume 15 - 2024 | doi: 10.3389/fgene.2024.1510932

Genomic and Physiological Mechanisms of High-Altitude Adaptation in Ethiopian Highlanders: A Comparative Perspective

Provisionally accepted
Wubalem Desta Seifu Wubalem Desta Seifu 1,2*Abreham Bekele Alemu Abreham Bekele Alemu 3
  • 1 Center of Cellular and Genetic Sciences, Henan Academy of Sciences, Zhengzhou, China
  • 2 Natural and Computational Sciences, Wolkite University, Wolkite, Southern Nations, Nationalities, and Peoples' Region, Ethiopia
  • 3 Laboratory of Plant Molecular Biology and Biotechnology, Department of Biology, University of North Carolina Greensboro, Greensboro, NC 27412, USA, North Carolina, United States

The final, formatted version of the article will be published soon.

    High-altitude adaptation is a remarkable example of natural selection, yet the genomic and physiological adaptation mechanisms of Ethiopian highlanders remain poorly understood compared to their Andean and Tibetan counterparts. Ethiopian populations, such as the Amhara and Oromo, exhibit unique adaptive strategies characterized by moderate hemoglobin levels and enhanced arterial oxygen saturation, indicating distinct mechanisms of coping with chronic hypoxia. This review synthesizes current genomic insights into Ethiopian high-altitude adaptation, identifying key candidate genes involved in hypoxia tolerance and examining the influence of genetic diversity and historical admixture on adaptive responses. Furthermore, the review highlights significant research gaps, particularly the underrepresentation of Ethiopian populations in global genomic studies, the lack of comprehensive genotype-phenotype analyses, and inconsistencies in research methodologies. Addressing these gaps is crucial for advancing our understanding of the genetic basis of human adaptation to extreme environments and for developing a more complete picture of human physiological resilience. This review offers a comparative perspective with Tibetan and Andean highlanders, emphasizing the need for expanding genomic representation and refining methodologies to uncover the genetic mechanisms underlying high-altitude adaptation in Ethiopian populations.

    Keywords: High-altitude adaptation, Ethiopian highlanders, Genomics, hypoxia tolerance, Physiological mechanisms, genetic diversity, comparative analysis

    Received: 14 Oct 2024; Accepted: 10 Dec 2024.

    Copyright: © 2024 Seifu and Alemu. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.

    * Correspondence: Wubalem Desta Seifu, Center of Cellular and Genetic Sciences, Henan Academy of Sciences, Zhengzhou, China

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