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A research team led by University of Oregon Health and Science (OHSU, for its acronym in English) has sequenced the genome of the gibbon, a small endangered primate that lives in the tropical forests of Southeast Asia.
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The Catalan Institute for Research and Advanced Studies (ICREA), the Institute of Evolutionary Biology (CSIC-UPF) and the National Center for Genome Analysis (CNAG) have led the Spanish contribution of this paper published in the journal Nature .
“This is the last ape be sequenced and the end of an era in human comparative genomics, “says Tomas Marques-Bonet, co-author of the study and researcher at the ICREA. “We now have tools, genomes for all species closer to humans.”
This sequencing scientists provide new insight into the evolution of its genome, and its extraordinary chromosomal rearrangements -changes structural changes in the DNA that are often problematic in other species and can cause even cancer in human beings. These rearrangements appear to have occurred in the gibbons with a very high frequency.
The researchers also offered new details about the family tree and the evolutionary history of their ancestry, source of scientific debate for many years.
jump from tree to tree
In addition, this sequencing reveals some genetic clues on how the different species of gibbon developed, over the years, longer arms, and powerful tendons in shoulders and arms.
This capability is important for these arboreal primates as their main method of travel is hung from tree to tree in the dense tropical forest.
“We hope that by learning more about the genome of these species are able to implement better strategies for their conservation, as some of these species are in critical danger of extinction, “says Lucia Carbone, first author of the study and a research assistant at the University of Oregon Health and Science.
Finally, as well as DNA sequencing of apes and other nonhuman primates, this study gives scientists a new view of the human genome by genetic similarity between apes and humans.
Connections to human health
Deciphering the genome of primates is vital as researchers try to understand the genetic factors linked to human health and diseases that affect them .
Gibbons, along with other -orangutanes apes, gorillas, chimpanzees and bonobos- are the closest relatives of humans. All belong to the superfamily Hominoidea called, but unlike other apes and humans, gibbons have been subjected to a high number of chromosomal rearrangements during evolution.
In the project, the CNAG has conducted several complete sequencing of genomes of different species of gibbon and has revealed more details about the order in which the four different genera or species groups that comprise this family, separated from each other.
“You could think of chromosomes as constructions made of different plastic bricks toy. In the reorganization, one or more toy parts are separated from the others and reenlist again with a different orientation or location. might also be lost or duplicated, “says Carbone.
These chromosomal rearrangements can cause big problems in the cells, and contribute to birth defects and cancer in humans . But they seem to have been well tolerated by gibbons.
“We know that these events have occurred in the scientifically adds other apes including humans, gibbons but show a much higher frequency reorganization. One of our goals was to analyze genome try to identify the cause of this instability. “
The gibbon genome is now a tool to better understand the mechanisms underlying these errors.
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