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Published on: October 23, 2019
Gibbon genome and the fast karyotype evolution of small apes
Lucia Carbone1, R Alan Harris2, Sante Gnerre3
11] Oregon Health &Science University, Department of Behavioral Neuroscience, 3181 SW Sam Jackson Park Road Portland, Oregon 97239, USA. [2] Oregon National Primate Research Center, Division of Neuroscience, 505 NW 185th Avenue, Beaverton, Oregon 97006, USA. [3] Oregon Health &Science University, Department of Molecular &Medical Genetics, 3181 SW Sam Jackson Park Road, Portland, Oregon 97239, USA. [4] Oregon Health &Science University, Bioinformatics and Computational Biology Division, Department of Medical Informatics &Clinical Epidemiology, 3181 SW Sam Jackson Park Road, Portland, Oregon 97239, USA.
Abstract:
Gibbons are small arboreal apes that display an accelerated rate of evolutionary chromosomal rearrangement and occupy a key node in the primate phylogeny between Old World monkeys and great apes. Here we present the assembly and analysis of a northern white-cheeked gibbon (Nomascus leucogenys) genome. We describe the propensity for a gibbon-specific retrotransposon (LAVA) to insert into chromosome segregation genes and alter transcription by providing a premature termination site, suggesting a possible molecular mechanism for the genome plasticity of the gibbon lineage. We further show that the gibbon genera (Nomascus, Hylobates, Hoolock and Symphalangus) experienced a near-instantaneous radiation ∼5 million years ago, coincident with major geographical changes in southeast Asia that caused cycles of habitat compression and expansion. Finally, we identify signatures of positive selection in genes important for forelimb development (TBX5) and connective tissues (COL1A1) that may have been involved in the adaptation of gibbons to their arboreal habitat.
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