EEB Thursday Seminar Series - Gene regulation and physiological adaptation: insight from hibernation in bears

Seminar Summary - Hibernation is a complex adaptation involving suppression of metabolism, body temperature, and activity during periods of prolonged resource scarcity. Understanding the genomic basis of hibernation can provide a better understanding for how physiological adaptations are gained, lost, and modified through evolution, and how the modification of gene regulatory mechanisms can play a role in this process. This talk will highlight recent work integrating functional and evolutionary genomic approaches to uncover the gene regulatory mechanisms that underlie hibernation in brown bears (Ursus arctos) and investigate the evolution of hibernation across extant bear species.