The Shrew’s Secret: A Genetic Switch for Seasonal Shrinking
Unlike most small mammals that hibernate, the Eurasian common shrew (*Sorex araneus*) employs a remarkable survival strategy known as Dehnel’s phenomenon: it actively shrinks its body and organs in winter and regrows in spring. A new multi-omics study has now mapped the metabolic and regulatory changes across this entire seasonal cycle. Researchers found that during the autumn-to-winter shrinkage, shrews upregulate genes for fatty acid metabolism and oxidative phosphorylation, similar to hibernators. Crucially, they also identified a unique upregulation of gluconeogenesis genes in winter, likely to sustain their high metabolic rate. Coexpression analysis revealed that these size and metabolic changes are coordinated through FOXO signaling, a pathway known to influence lifespan and body size in model organisms.
Why it might matter to you: This research provides a novel, real-world model for studying the genetic regulation of body size, metabolism, and aging. The central role of FOXO signaling in Dehnel’s phenomenon offers direct insights into conserved pathways that control growth and longevity, which are fundamental topics in genetics and genomics. For professionals focused on functional genomics, gene expression, and evolutionary adaptations, this study demonstrates how integrating proteomic and transcriptomic data can unravel complex phenotypic traits driven by environmental pressures.
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