Ancient admixture from an extinct ape lineage into bonobos

Area of Science:

• Evolutionary genetics
• Primate genomics
• Paleogenetics

Background:

• Admixture is a common evolutionary process in humans and great apes.
• Studying gene flow from extinct hominins provides insights into historical interactions and adaptive evolution.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate whole genomes of bonobo and chimpanzee populations for evidence of gene flow from unknown archaic populations.
• To reconstruct the genome of an extinct 'ghost' ape population and identify potential functional consequences of introgressed genes.

Main Methods:

• Whole-genome sequencing of bonobo and chimpanzee populations.
• Analysis of genetic signatures for ancient admixture events.
• Reconstruction of archaic hominin genome fragments.

Main Results:

• Evidence of an ancient admixture event between bonobos and a divergent lineage, occurring several hundred thousand years ago.
• Reconstruction of up to 4.8% of the genome from an extinct 'ghost' ape population.
• Identification of introgressed genes potentially impacting bonobo immunity, behavior, and physiology.

Conclusions:

• Bonobos and chimpanzees possess a complex population history involving ancient admixture with extinct lineages.
• Introgressed archaic DNA may have provided adaptive advantages to modern bonobos.
• Genomic incompatibilities between archaic and modern lineages appear to be rare.