Collaborative Research: The evolution of the anthropoid genome

合作研究：类人猿基因组的进化

• 批准号: 1640500
• 负责人: Mark Shriver
• 金额: $ 3万
• 依托单位: Pennsylvania State Univ University Park
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Standard Grant
• 财政年份: 2017
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2017-01-15 至 2020-12-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=1640500&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: Collaborative; Research; evolution; anthropoid; genome

The goal of this collaborative research is to use genomic data to address fundamental questions about the evolution of primates. The investigators will sequence the genomes of the roughly 36 anthropoid (monkey and ape) genera for which little or no genomic data are available. Comparisons of the genomes of different but closely related organisms can yield many insights into their biology, such as which areas of the genome affect traits of biological importance, and when important branching events occurred in the primate tree of life. Studies of monkey and ape genomes also provide comparative data for understanding what is unique about the human genome. This research will result in a freely accessible anthropoid primate genomic database and will facilitate the training of graduate, undergraduate, and high school students, including students from New York City public schools, in state-of-the-art bioinformatics as well as molecular laboratory techniques.Identifying patterns of variation in DNA substitutions and understanding their causes is a central goal of comparative genetics. Genomic regions that depart from 'baseline' neutral rates of molecular evolution may have biological function and therefore influence adaptive phenotypes. The power of many comparative analyses improves when more species from major branches of the tree of life are included. Up to now, relatively few monkey species have been the target of large-scale sequencing efforts. The researchers will use a combination of short-read and long-molecule DNA sequencing to obtain genomic sequences of ~36 anthropoid genera and then combine these with the 12 that are already sequenced. With this large comparative dataset, the researchers will 1) infer the best possible primate tree, including estimates of the timing of splits among major branches; 2) determine which life history traits such as generation length cause variations in the rate of genomic evolution among monkey, ape, and human lineages; and 3) scan for areas of the genome of major branches of the anthropoid tree that might be of functional significance.

这项合作研究的目标是使用基因组数据来解决关于灵长类进化的基本问题。研究人员将对几乎没有基因组数据的大约36个类人猿(猴子和类人猿)属的基因组进行排序。对不同但密切相关的生物的基因组进行比较，可以对它们的生物学产生许多见解，例如基因组的哪些区域影响具有生物学重要性的特征，以及灵长类生命树中何时发生重要的分支事件。对猴子和猿类基因组的研究也为理解人类基因组的独特之处提供了比较数据。这项研究将建立一个可免费获取的类人灵长类动物基因组数据库，并将促进包括纽约市公立学校学生在内的研究生、本科生和高中生在最先进的生物信息学和分子实验室技术方面的培训。识别DNA替换的变异模式并了解其原因是比较遗传学的中心目标。偏离分子进化的“基线”中性速率的基因组区域可能具有生物学功能，从而影响适应性表型。当生命之树主要分支的更多物种被包括在内时，许多比较分析的能力就会提高。到目前为止，相对较少的猴子物种一直是大规模测序工作的目标。研究人员将使用短读和长分子DNA测序相结合的方法来获得约36个类人属的基因组序列，然后将这些序列与已经测序的12个属结合起来。有了这个庞大的比较数据集，研究人员将1)推断可能的最佳灵长类树，包括对主要分支分裂时间的估计；2)确定哪些生活史特征，如世代长度，导致猴子、猿类和人类血统之间基因组进化速度的差异；3)扫描类人树主要分支基因组中可能具有功能意义的区域。