1
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Makova KD, Pickett BD, Harris RS, Hartley GA, Cechova M, Pal K, Nurk S, Yoo D, Li Q, Hebbar P, McGrath BC, Antonacci F, Aubel M, Biddanda A, Borchers M, Bornberg-Bauer E, Bouffard GG, Brooks SY, Carbone L, Carrel L, Carroll A, Chang PC, Chin CS, Cook DE, Craig SJC, de Gennaro L, Diekhans M, Dutra A, Garcia GH, Grady PGS, Green RE, Haddad D, Hallast P, Harvey WT, Hickey G, Hillis DA, Hoyt SJ, Jeong H, Kamali K, Pond SLK, LaPolice TM, Lee C, Lewis AP, Loh YHE, Masterson P, McGarvey KM, McCoy RC, Medvedev P, Miga KH, Munson KM, Pak E, Paten B, Pinto BJ, Potapova T, Rhie A, Rocha JL, Ryabov F, Ryder OA, Sacco S, Shafin K, Shepelev VA, Slon V, Solar SJ, Storer JM, Sudmant PH, Sweetalana, Sweeten A, Tassia MG, Thibaud-Nissen F, Ventura M, Wilson MA, Young AC, Zeng H, Zhang X, Szpiech ZA, Huber CD, Gerton JL, Yi SV, Schatz MC, Alexandrov IA, Koren S, O'Neill RJ, Eichler EE, Phillippy AM. The complete sequence and comparative analysis of ape sex chromosomes. Nature 2024; 630:401-411. [PMID: 38811727 PMCID: PMC11168930 DOI: 10.1038/s41586-024-07473-2] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/17/2023] [Accepted: 04/26/2024] [Indexed: 05/31/2024]
Abstract
Apes possess two sex chromosomes-the male-specific Y chromosome and the X chromosome, which is present in both males and females. The Y chromosome is crucial for male reproduction, with deletions being linked to infertility1. The X chromosome is vital for reproduction and cognition2. Variation in mating patterns and brain function among apes suggests corresponding differences in their sex chromosomes. However, owing to their repetitive nature and incomplete reference assemblies, ape sex chromosomes have been challenging to study. Here, using the methodology developed for the telomere-to-telomere (T2T) human genome, we produced gapless assemblies of the X and Y chromosomes for five great apes (bonobo (Pan paniscus), chimpanzee (Pan troglodytes), western lowland gorilla (Gorilla gorilla gorilla), Bornean orangutan (Pongo pygmaeus) and Sumatran orangutan (Pongo abelii)) and a lesser ape (the siamang gibbon (Symphalangus syndactylus)), and untangled the intricacies of their evolution. Compared with the X chromosomes, the ape Y chromosomes vary greatly in size and have low alignability and high levels of structural rearrangements-owing to the accumulation of lineage-specific ampliconic regions, palindromes, transposable elements and satellites. Many Y chromosome genes expand in multi-copy families and some evolve under purifying selection. Thus, the Y chromosome exhibits dynamic evolution, whereas the X chromosome is more stable. Mapping short-read sequencing data to these assemblies revealed diversity and selection patterns on sex chromosomes of more than 100 individual great apes. These reference assemblies are expected to inform human evolution and conservation genetics of non-human apes, all of which are endangered species.
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Affiliation(s)
| | - Brandon D Pickett
- National Human Genome Research Institute, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD, USA
| | | | | | - Monika Cechova
- University of California Santa Cruz, Santa Cruz, CA, USA
| | - Karol Pal
- Penn State University, University Park, PA, USA
| | - Sergey Nurk
- National Human Genome Research Institute, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD, USA
| | - DongAhn Yoo
- University of Washington School of Medicine, Seattle, WA, USA
| | - Qiuhui Li
- Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD, USA
| | - Prajna Hebbar
- University of California Santa Cruz, Santa Cruz, CA, USA
| | | | | | | | | | | | - Erich Bornberg-Bauer
- University of Münster, Münster, Germany
- MPI for Developmental Biology, Tübingen, Germany
| | - Gerard G Bouffard
- National Human Genome Research Institute, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD, USA
| | - Shelise Y Brooks
- National Human Genome Research Institute, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD, USA
| | - Lucia Carbone
- Oregon Health and Science University, Portland, OR, USA
- Oregon National Primate Research Center, Hillsboro, OR, USA
| | - Laura Carrel
- Penn State University School of Medicine, Hershey, PA, USA
| | | | | | - Chen-Shan Chin
- Foundation of Biological Data Sciences, Belmont, CA, USA
| | | | | | | | - Mark Diekhans
- University of California Santa Cruz, Santa Cruz, CA, USA
| | - Amalia Dutra
- National Human Genome Research Institute, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD, USA
| | - Gage H Garcia
- University of Washington School of Medicine, Seattle, WA, USA
| | | | | | - Diana Haddad
- National Center for Biotechnology Information, National Library of Medicine, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD, USA
| | - Pille Hallast
- The Jackson Laboratory for Genomic Medicine, Farmington, CT, USA
| | | | - Glenn Hickey
- University of California Santa Cruz, Santa Cruz, CA, USA
| | - David A Hillis
- University of California Santa Barbara, Santa Barbara, CA, USA
| | | | - Hyeonsoo Jeong
- University of Washington School of Medicine, Seattle, WA, USA
| | | | | | | | - Charles Lee
- The Jackson Laboratory for Genomic Medicine, Farmington, CT, USA
| | | | - Yong-Hwee E Loh
- University of California Santa Barbara, Santa Barbara, CA, USA
| | - Patrick Masterson
- National Center for Biotechnology Information, National Library of Medicine, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD, USA
| | - Kelly M McGarvey
- National Center for Biotechnology Information, National Library of Medicine, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD, USA
| | | | | | - Karen H Miga
- University of California Santa Cruz, Santa Cruz, CA, USA
| | | | - Evgenia Pak
- National Human Genome Research Institute, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD, USA
| | - Benedict Paten
- University of California Santa Cruz, Santa Cruz, CA, USA
| | | | | | - Arang Rhie
- National Human Genome Research Institute, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD, USA
| | - Joana L Rocha
- University of California Berkeley, Berkeley, CA, USA
| | - Fedor Ryabov
- Masters Program in National Research, University Higher School of Economics, Moscow, Russia
| | | | - Samuel Sacco
- University of California Santa Cruz, Santa Cruz, CA, USA
| | | | | | | | - Steven J Solar
- National Human Genome Research Institute, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD, USA
| | | | | | - Sweetalana
- Penn State University, University Park, PA, USA
| | - Alex Sweeten
- National Human Genome Research Institute, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD, USA
- Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD, USA
| | | | - Françoise Thibaud-Nissen
- National Center for Biotechnology Information, National Library of Medicine, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD, USA
| | - Mario Ventura
- Università degli Studi di Bari Aldo Moro, Bari, Italy
| | | | - Alice C Young
- National Human Genome Research Institute, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD, USA
| | | | - Xinru Zhang
- Penn State University, University Park, PA, USA
| | | | | | | | - Soojin V Yi
- University of California Santa Barbara, Santa Barbara, CA, USA
| | | | | | - Sergey Koren
- National Human Genome Research Institute, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD, USA
| | | | - Evan E Eichler
- University of Washington School of Medicine, Seattle, WA, USA.
- Howard Hughes Medical Institute, University of Washington, Seattle, WA, USA.
| | - Adam M Phillippy
- National Human Genome Research Institute, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD, USA.
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2
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Makova KD, Pickett BD, Harris RS, Hartley GA, Cechova M, Pal K, Nurk S, Yoo D, Li Q, Hebbar P, McGrath BC, Antonacci F, Aubel M, Biddanda A, Borchers M, Bomberg E, Bouffard GG, Brooks SY, Carbone L, Carrel L, Carroll A, Chang PC, Chin CS, Cook DE, Craig SJ, de Gennaro L, Diekhans M, Dutra A, Garcia GH, Grady PG, Green RE, Haddad D, Hallast P, Harvey WT, Hickey G, Hillis DA, Hoyt SJ, Jeong H, Kamali K, Kosakovsky Pond SL, LaPolice TM, Lee C, Lewis AP, Loh YHE, Masterson P, McCoy RC, Medvedev P, Miga KH, Munson KM, Pak E, Paten B, Pinto BJ, Potapova T, Rhie A, Rocha JL, Ryabov F, Ryder OA, Sacco S, Shafin K, Shepelev VA, Slon V, Solar SJ, Storer JM, Sudmant PH, Sweetalana, Sweeten A, Tassia MG, Thibaud-Nissen F, Ventura M, Wilson MA, Young AC, Zeng H, Zhang X, Szpiech ZA, Huber CD, Gerton JL, Yi SV, Schatz MC, Alexandrov IA, Koren S, O’Neill RJ, Eichler E, Phillippy AM. The Complete Sequence and Comparative Analysis of Ape Sex Chromosomes. BIORXIV : THE PREPRINT SERVER FOR BIOLOGY 2023:2023.11.30.569198. [PMID: 38077089 PMCID: PMC10705393 DOI: 10.1101/2023.11.30.569198] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/24/2023]
Abstract
Apes possess two sex chromosomes-the male-specific Y and the X shared by males and females. The Y chromosome is crucial for male reproduction, with deletions linked to infertility. The X chromosome carries genes vital for reproduction and cognition. Variation in mating patterns and brain function among great apes suggests corresponding differences in their sex chromosome structure and evolution. However, due to their highly repetitive nature and incomplete reference assemblies, ape sex chromosomes have been challenging to study. Here, using the state-of-the-art experimental and computational methods developed for the telomere-to-telomere (T2T) human genome, we produced gapless, complete assemblies of the X and Y chromosomes for five great apes (chimpanzee, bonobo, gorilla, Bornean and Sumatran orangutans) and a lesser ape, the siamang gibbon. These assemblies completely resolved ampliconic, palindromic, and satellite sequences, including the entire centromeres, allowing us to untangle the intricacies of ape sex chromosome evolution. We found that, compared to the X, ape Y chromosomes vary greatly in size and have low alignability and high levels of structural rearrangements. This divergence on the Y arises from the accumulation of lineage-specific ampliconic regions and palindromes (which are shared more broadly among species on the X) and from the abundance of transposable elements and satellites (which have a lower representation on the X). Our analysis of Y chromosome genes revealed lineage-specific expansions of multi-copy gene families and signatures of purifying selection. In summary, the Y exhibits dynamic evolution, while the X is more stable. Finally, mapping short-read sequencing data from >100 great ape individuals revealed the patterns of diversity and selection on their sex chromosomes, demonstrating the utility of these reference assemblies for studies of great ape evolution. These complete sex chromosome assemblies are expected to further inform conservation genetics of nonhuman apes, all of which are endangered species.
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Affiliation(s)
| | - Brandon D. Pickett
- National Human Genome Research Institute, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD, USA
| | | | | | - Monika Cechova
- University of California Santa Cruz, Santa Cruz, CA, USA
| | - Karol Pal
- Penn State University, University Park, PA, USA
| | - Sergey Nurk
- National Human Genome Research Institute, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD, USA
| | - DongAhn Yoo
- University of Washington School of Medicine, Seattle, WA, USA
| | - Qiuhui Li
- Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD, USA
| | - Prajna Hebbar
- University of California Santa Cruz, Santa Cruz, CA, USA
| | | | | | | | | | | | - Erich Bomberg
- University of Münster, Münster, Germany
- MPI for Developmental Biology, Tübingen, Germany
| | - Gerard G. Bouffard
- National Human Genome Research Institute, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD, USA
| | - Shelise Y. Brooks
- National Human Genome Research Institute, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD, USA
| | - Lucia Carbone
- Oregon Health & Science University, Portland, OR, USA
- Oregon National Primate Research Center, Hillsboro, OR, USA
| | - Laura Carrel
- Penn State University School of Medicine, Hershey, PA, USA
| | | | | | - Chen-Shan Chin
- Foundation of Biological Data Sciences, Belmont, CA, USA
| | | | | | | | - Mark Diekhans
- University of California Santa Cruz, Santa Cruz, CA, USA
| | - Amalia Dutra
- National Human Genome Research Institute, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD, USA
| | - Gage H. Garcia
- University of Washington School of Medicine, Seattle, WA, USA
| | | | | | - Diana Haddad
- National Center for Biotechnology Information, National Library of Medicine, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD, USA
| | - Pille Hallast
- The Jackson Laboratory for Genomic Medicine, Farmington, CT, USA
| | | | - Glenn Hickey
- University of California Santa Cruz, Santa Cruz, CA, USA
| | - David A. Hillis
- University of California Santa Barbara, Santa Barbara, CA, USA
| | | | - Hyeonsoo Jeong
- University of Washington School of Medicine, Seattle, WA, USA
| | | | | | | | - Charles Lee
- The Jackson Laboratory for Genomic Medicine, Farmington, CT, USA
| | | | | | - Patrick Masterson
- National Center for Biotechnology Information, National Library of Medicine, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD, USA
| | | | | | - Karen H. Miga
- University of California Santa Cruz, Santa Cruz, CA, USA
| | | | - Evgenia Pak
- National Human Genome Research Institute, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD, USA
| | - Benedict Paten
- University of California Santa Cruz, Santa Cruz, CA, USA
| | | | | | - Arang Rhie
- National Human Genome Research Institute, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD, USA
| | | | - Fedor Ryabov
- Masters Program in National Research University Higher School of Economics, Moscow, Russia
| | | | - Samuel Sacco
- University of California Santa Cruz, Santa Cruz, CA, USA
| | | | | | | | - Steven J. Solar
- National Human Genome Research Institute, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD, USA
| | | | | | - Sweetalana
- Penn State University, University Park, PA, USA
| | - Alex Sweeten
- National Human Genome Research Institute, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD, USA
- Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD, USA
| | | | - Françoise Thibaud-Nissen
- National Center for Biotechnology Information, National Library of Medicine, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD, USA
| | | | | | - Alice C. Young
- National Human Genome Research Institute, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD, USA
| | | | - Xinru Zhang
- Penn State University, University Park, PA, USA
| | | | | | | | - Soojin V. Yi
- University of California Santa Barbara, Santa Barbara, CA, USA
| | | | | | - Sergey Koren
- National Human Genome Research Institute, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD, USA
| | | | - Evan Eichler
- University of Washington School of Medicine, Seattle, WA, USA
- Howard Hughes Medical Institute, University of Washington, Seattle, WA, USA
| | - Adam M. Phillippy
- National Human Genome Research Institute, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD, USA
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3
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Vegesna R, Tomaszkiewicz M, Ryder OA, Campos-Sánchez R, Medvedev P, DeGiorgio M, Makova KD. Ampliconic Genes on the Great Ape Y Chromosomes: Rapid Evolution of Copy Number but Conservation of Expression Levels. Genome Biol Evol 2021; 12:842-859. [PMID: 32374870 PMCID: PMC7313670 DOI: 10.1093/gbe/evaa088] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Accepted: 04/28/2020] [Indexed: 12/16/2022] Open
Abstract
Multicopy ampliconic gene families on the Y chromosome play an important role in spermatogenesis. Thus, studying their genetic variation in endangered great ape species is critical. We estimated the sizes (copy number) of nine Y ampliconic gene families in population samples of chimpanzee, bonobo, and orangutan with droplet digital polymerase chain reaction, combined these estimates with published data for human and gorilla, and produced genome-wide testis gene expression data for great apes. Analyzing this comprehensive data set within an evolutionary framework, we, first, found high inter- and intraspecific variation in gene family size, with larger families exhibiting higher variation as compared with smaller families, a pattern consistent with random genetic drift. Second, for four gene families, we observed significant interspecific size differences, sometimes even between sister species—chimpanzee and bonobo. Third, despite substantial variation in copy number, Y ampliconic gene families’ expression levels did not differ significantly among species, suggesting dosage regulation. Fourth, for three gene families, size was positively correlated with gene expression levels across species, suggesting that, given sufficient evolutionary time, copy number influences gene expression. Our results indicate high variability in size but conservation in gene expression levels in Y ampliconic gene families, significantly advancing our understanding of Y-chromosome evolution in great apes.
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Affiliation(s)
- Rahulsimham Vegesna
- Bioinformatics and Genomics Graduate Program, The Huck Institutes for the Life Sciences, Pennsylvania State University, University Park
| | | | - Oliver A Ryder
- Institute for Conservation Research, San Diego Zoo Global, San Diego, California
| | | | - Paul Medvedev
- Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Pennsylvania State University, University Park.,Department of Computer Science and Engineering, Pennsylvania State University, University Park.,Center for Computational Biology and Bioinformatics, Pennsylvania State University, University Park.,Center for Medical Genomics, Pennsylvania State University, University Park
| | - Michael DeGiorgio
- Department of Biology, Pennsylvania State University, University Park.,Institute for Computational and Data Science, Pennsylvania State University, University Park
| | - Kateryna D Makova
- Department of Biology, Pennsylvania State University, University Park.,Center for Computational Biology and Bioinformatics, Pennsylvania State University, University Park.,Center for Medical Genomics, Pennsylvania State University, University Park
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4
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Abstract
The great apes (orangutans, gorillas, chimpanzees, bonobos and humans) descended from a common ancestor around 13 million years ago, and since then their sex chromosomes have followed very different evolutionary paths. While great-ape X chromosomes are highly conserved, their Y chromosomes, reflecting the general lability and degeneration of this male-specific part of the genome since its early mammalian origin, have evolved rapidly both between and within species. Understanding great-ape Y chromosome structure, gene content and diversity would provide a valuable evolutionary context for the human Y, and would also illuminate sex-biased behaviours, and the effects of the evolutionary pressures exerted by different mating strategies on this male-specific part of the genome. High-quality Y-chromosome sequences are available for human and chimpanzee (and low-quality for gorilla). The chromosomes differ in size, sequence organisation and content, and while retaining a relatively stable set of ancestral single-copy genes, show considerable variation in content and copy number of ampliconic multi-copy genes. Studies of Y-chromosome diversity in other great apes are relatively undeveloped compared to those in humans, but have nevertheless provided insights into speciation, dispersal, and mating patterns. Future studies, including data from larger sample sizes of wild-born and geographically well-defined individuals, and full Y-chromosome sequences from bonobos, gorillas and orangutans, promise to further our understanding of population histories, male-biased behaviours, mutation processes, and the functions of Y-chromosomal genes.
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5
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Ghenu AH, Bolker BM, Melnick DJ, Evans BJ. Multicopy gene family evolution on primate Y chromosomes. BMC Genomics 2016; 17:157. [PMID: 26925773 PMCID: PMC4772468 DOI: 10.1186/s12864-015-2187-8] [Citation(s) in RCA: 17] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/21/2015] [Accepted: 11/02/2015] [Indexed: 12/12/2022] Open
Abstract
Background The primate Y chromosome is distinguished by a lack of inter-chromosomal recombination along most of its length, extensive gene loss, and a prevalence of repetitive elements. A group of genes on the male-specific portion of the Y chromosome known as the “ampliconic genes” are present in multiple copies that are sometimes part of palindromes, and that undergo a form of intra-chromosomal recombination called gene conversion, wherein the nucleotides of one copy are homogenized by those of another. With the aim of further understanding gene family evolution of these genes, we collected nucleotide sequence and gene copy number information for several species of papionin monkey. We then tested for evidence of gene conversion, and developed a novel statistical framework to evaluate alternative models of gene family evolution using our data combined with other information from a human, a chimpanzee, and a rhesus macaque. Results Our results (i) recovered evidence for several novel examples of gene conversion in papionin monkeys and indicate that (ii) ampliconic gene families evolve faster than autosomal gene families and than single-copy genes on the Y chromosome and that (iii) Y-linked singleton and autosomal gene families evolved faster in humans and chimps than they do in the other Old World Monkey lineages we studied. Conclusions Rapid evolution of ampliconic genes cannot be attributed solely to residence on the Y chromosome, nor to variation between primate lineages in the rate of gene family evolution. Instead other factors, such as natural selection and gene conversion, appear to play a role in driving temporal and genomic evolutionary heterogeneity in primate gene families. Electronic supplementary material The online version of this article (doi:10.1186/s12864-015-2187-8) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ana-Hermina Ghenu
- Biology Department, McMaster University, 1280 Main Street West, Hamilton, L8S 4K1, Canada.
| | - Benjamin M Bolker
- Biology Department, McMaster University, 1280 Main Street West, Hamilton, L8S 4K1, Canada.,Department of Mathematics & Statistics, McMaster University, 1280 Main Street West, Hamilton, L8S 4K1, Canada
| | - Don J Melnick
- Department of Ecology, Evolution, and Environmental Biology, Columbia University, 10th Floor Schermerhorn Extension, New York, 10027, USA
| | - Ben J Evans
- Biology Department, McMaster University, 1280 Main Street West, Hamilton, L8S 4K1, Canada.
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6
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Pratas D, Silva RM, Pinho AJ, Ferreira PJ. An alignment-free method to find and visualise rearrangements between pairs of DNA sequences. Sci Rep 2015; 5:10203. [PMID: 25984837 PMCID: PMC4434998 DOI: 10.1038/srep10203] [Citation(s) in RCA: 24] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/26/2014] [Accepted: 04/07/2015] [Indexed: 12/19/2022] Open
Abstract
Species evolution is indirectly registered in their genomic structure. The emergence and advances in sequencing technology provided a way to access genome information, namely to identify and study evolutionary macro-events, as well as chromosome alterations for clinical purposes. This paper describes a completely alignment-free computational method, based on a blind unsupervised approach, to detect large-scale and small-scale genomic rearrangements between pairs of DNA sequences. To illustrate the power and usefulness of the method we give complete chromosomal information maps for the pairs human-chimpanzee and human-orangutan. The tool by means of which these results were obtained has been made publicly available and is described in detail.
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