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Peer-reviewedCC BY-NC 4.0Zoological Research

Analysis of hypoxia-inducible factors in the deep-sea fish reveals genetic adaptation to hypoxic environments

  • Geng Ai1,2,3
  • Wen-Yu Fang1,2,3
  • Ya-Nan Song2,3
  • Han Xu1,2,3
  • Tong Li2,3
  • Rui-Tong Hu2,3
  • Jing Wang2,3
  • Wu-Han Xiao2,3
  • Li-Sheng He1
  • Xiao-Ni Gan2
  • Shun-Ping He1,2
  1. 1Institute of Deep-sea Science and Engineering, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Sanya, Hainan 572000, China
  2. 2State Key Laboratory of Breeding Biotechnology and Sustainable Aquaculture, Institute of Hydrobiology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Wuhan, Hubei 430072, China
  3. 3University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100049, China
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Abstract

Oxygen levels in the ocean have decreased worldwide as a result of climate change and nutrient contamination, which has had a significant impact on marine ecosystems. Although deep-sea fish that reside in oxygen minimum zones (OMZs) demonstrate remarkable adaptations to hypoxia, the molecular mechanisms that underlie their resilience are still inadequately understood. The hypoxia-inducible factors (HIFs), regulated by the hypoxia signaling pathway, play a crucial role in maintaining cellular and systemic oxygen homeostasis in response to changes in oxygen supply. In this study, we investigated the HIFs pathway in three deep-sea fish species: Pseudoliparis swirei, Ilyophis sp., and Liparis tanakai. We found that Ilyophis sp. HIF-1α shows stronger transcriptional activity and upregulates hypoxia-response genes more efficiently than the other species. Mutational analysis revealed that the deletion mutation of the nuclear export signal (NES) in Ilyophis sp. HIF-1α may enhance its stability, while Plk3 may function as a negative regulator of deep-sea fish HIF-1α under hypoxic conditions. This study reveals divergent evolutionary strategies in hypoxia adaptation among deep-sea fishes, highlighting how structural and regulatory mechanisms enable survival in oxygen-deprived environments, and provides novel insights into the genetic mechanisms enabling survival in OMZs, advancing our understanding of marine hypoxia resilience and its implications for ecosystem dynamics under global deoxygenation.

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Cite

BibTeXRIS
BibTeX
@article{ai2026analysis,
  title = {{Analysis of hypoxia-inducible factors in the deep-sea fish reveals genetic adaptation to hypoxic environments}},
  author = {Geng Ai and Wen-Yu Fang and Ya-Nan Song and Han Xu and Tong Li and Rui-Tong Hu and Jing Wang and Wu-Han Xiao and Li-Sheng He and Xiao-Ni Gan and Shun-Ping He},
  journal = {Zoological Research},
  year = {2026},
  month = sep,
  doi = {10.24272/j.issn.2095-8137.2025.510},
  url = {https://doi.org/10.24272/j.issn.2095-8137.2025.510},
  note = {CC BY-NC 4.0},
}
RIS
TY  - JOUR
TI  - Analysis of hypoxia-inducible factors in the deep-sea fish reveals genetic adaptation to hypoxic environments
AU  - Geng Ai
AU  - Wen-Yu Fang
AU  - Ya-Nan Song
AU  - Han Xu
AU  - Tong Li
AU  - Rui-Tong Hu
AU  - Jing Wang
AU  - Wu-Han Xiao
AU  - Li-Sheng He
AU  - Xiao-Ni Gan
AU  - Shun-Ping He
PY  - 2026
DA  - 2026/09/18
JO  - Zoological Research
DO  - 10.24272/j.issn.2095-8137.2025.510
UR  - https://doi.org/10.24272/j.issn.2095-8137.2025.510
AB  - Oxygen levels in the ocean have decreased worldwide as a result of climate change and nutrient contamination, which has had a significant impact on marine ecosystems. Although deep-sea fish that reside in oxygen minimum zones (OMZs) demonstrate remarkable adaptations to hypoxia, the molecular mechanisms that underlie their resilience are still inadequately understood. The hypoxia-inducible factors (HIFs), regulated by the hypoxia signaling pathway, play a crucial role in maintaining cellular and systemic oxygen homeostasis in response to changes in oxygen supply. In this study, we investigated the HIFs pathway in three deep-sea fish species: Pseudoliparis swirei, Ilyophis sp., and Liparis tanakai. We found that Ilyophis sp. HIF-1α shows stronger transcriptional activity and upregulates hypoxia-response genes more efficiently than the other species. Mutational analysis revealed that the deletion mutation of the nuclear export signal (NES) in Ilyophis sp. HIF-1α may enhance its stability, while Plk3 may function as a negative regulator of deep-sea fish HIF-1α under hypoxic conditions. This study reveals divergent evolutionary strategies in hypoxia adaptation among deep-sea fishes, highlighting how structural and regulatory mechanisms enable survival in oxygen-deprived environments, and provides novel insights into the genetic mechanisms enabling survival in OMZs, advancing our understanding of marine hypoxia resilience and its implications for ecosystem dynamics under global deoxygenation.
SN  - 2095-8137
ER  -