The rhesus macaque (Macaca mulatta) is an abundant primate species that diverged from the ancestors of Homo sapiens about 25 million years ago. Because they are genetically and physiologically similar to humans, rhesus monkeys are the most widely used nonhuman primate in basic and applied biomedical research. We determined the genome sequence of an Indian-origin Macaca mulatta female and compared the data with chimpanzees and humans to reveal the structure of ancestral primate genomes and to identify evidence for positive selection and lineage-specific expansions and contractions of gene families. A comparison of sequences from individual animals was used to investigate their underlying genetic diversity. The complete description of the macaque genome blueprint enhances the utility of this animal model for biomedical research and improves our understanding of the basic biology of the species.
After the completion of a draft human genome sequence, the International Human Genome Sequencing Consortium has proceeded to finish and annotate each of the 24 chromosomes comprising the human genome. Here we describe the sequencing and analysis of human chromosome 3, one of the largest human chromosomes. Chromosome 3 comprises just four contigs, one of which currently represents the longest unbroken stretch of finished DNA sequence known so far. The chromosome is remarkable in having the lowest rate of segmental duplication in the genome. It also includes a chemokine receptor gene cluster as well as numerous loci involved in multiple human cancers such as the gene encoding FHIT, which contains the most common constitutive fragile site in the genome, FRA3B. Using genomic sequence from chimpanzee and rhesus macaque, we were able to characterize the breakpoints defining a large pericentric inversion that occurred some time after the split of Homininae from Ponginae, and propose an evolutionary history of the inversion.
The laboratory rat (Rattus norvegicus) is an indispensable tool in experimental medicine and drug development, having made inestimable contributions to human health. We report here the genome sequence of the Brown Norway (BN) rat strain. The sequence represents a high-quality 'draft' covering over 90% of the genome. The BN rat sequence is the third complete mammalian genome to be deciphered, and three-way comparisons with the human and mouse genomes resolve details of mammalian evolution. This first comprehensive analysis includes genes and proteins and their relation to human disease, repeated sequences, comparative genome-wide studies of mammalian orthologous chromosomal regions and rearrangement breakpoints, reconstruction of ancestral karyotypes and the events leading to existing species, rates of variation, and lineage-specific and lineage-independent evolutionary events such as expansion of gene families, orthology relations and protein evolution.
