Orangutan genome: solid surprises

The orangutan genome has been decodedTape.
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Scientists have published a draft version of the nucleotide sequence in the genome of an orangutan – an anthropoid primate, along with a chimpanzee, which is one of the closest relatives of humans. The researchers' work appeared in the journal Nature (Comparative and demographic analysis of orang-utan genomes). It is briefly described on the ScienceNOW portal (Orangutan Genome Full of Surprises).

The authors worked with DNA taken from eleven animals – six monkeys living in Sumatra and five in Borneo. Scientists compared the obtained sequences with the DNA of humans and chimpanzees and came to the conclusion that the genome of the orangutan, for reasons still unclear, changed much less than the genomes of its closest relatives-primates. Researchers believe that such genetic conservatism may be associated with the low activity of retrotransposons – special DNA elements that can move through the genome. Retrotransposons largely contribute to the appearance of various mutations in the genome.

Another conclusion made by the authors is that some DNA fragments characteristic of the orangutan were preserved in the human genome, but disappeared from the chromosomes of chimpanzees (the orangutan separated from the common branch of higher primates leading to humans about 12 million years ago, and chimpanzees – about 5-6 million years ago). So far, researchers also cannot explain this fact.

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27.01.2011