1) confirmed its equivalence to other Sanger sequence-based non-human primate draft assemblies (such as the orangutan or rhesus macaque 3, 4) ( Supplementary Information section S1, Supplementary Data Files 1 and 2). Our quality assessment ( Extended Data Fig. The reference assembly (Nleu1.0) provides on average 5.7-fold Sanger read coverage over 2.9 gigabase pairs (Gb) ( Table 1 and Supplementary Table ST1.1). In order to investigate the mechanisms behind the plasticity of the gibbon genome, understand the evolutionary relationships among the four extant gibbon genera and study the evolution of putatively functional sequences related to gibbon-specific adaptations, we sequenced and assembled the genome of a female northern white-cheeked gibbon ( Nomascus leucogenys) named ‘Asia’. Given the relatively recent differentiation of these genera (4–6 million years ago (Myr ago), this constitutes an extraordinarily fast rate of karyotype change. The four gibbon genera ( Nomascus, Hylobates, Hoolock and Symphalangus) occupy different regions of southeast Asia and bear distinctive karyotypes, with diploid chromosome numbers ranging from 38 to 52 ( Fig. Gibbons have several distinctive traits, the most striking of which is the unusually high number of large-scale chromosomal rearrangements in comparison to the inferred ancestral ape karyotype 2. Finally, we identify signatures of positive selection in genes important for forelimb development ( TBX5) and connective tissues ( COL1A1) that may have been involved in the adaptation of gibbons to their arboreal habitat. We further show that the gibbon genera ( Nomascus, Hylobates, Hoolock and Symphalangus) experienced a near-instantaneous radiation ∼5 million years ago, coincident with major geographical changes in southeast Asia that caused cycles of habitat compression and expansion. We describe the propensity for a gibbon-specific retrotransposon (LAVA) to insert into chromosome segregation genes and alter transcription by providing a premature termination site, suggesting a possible molecular mechanism for the genome plasticity of the gibbon lineage.

Here we present the assembly and analysis of a northern white-cheeked gibbon ( Nomascus leucogenys) genome. Gibbons are small arboreal apes that display an accelerated rate of evolutionary chromosomal rearrangement and occupy a key node in the primate phylogeny between Old World monkeys and great apes. Nature volume 513, pages 195–201 ( 2014) Cite this article Gibbon genome and the fast karyotype evolution of small apes

Perfect ten by michelle craig