Genome of the marsupial Monodelphis domestica reveals innovation in non-coding sequences.
We report a high-quality draft of the genome sequence of the grey, short-tailed opossum (Monodelphis domestica). As the first metatherian ('marsupial') species to be sequenced, the opossum provides a unique perspective on the organization and evolution of mammalian genomes. Distinctive features of the opossum chromosomes provide support for recent theories about genome evolution and function, including a strong influence of biased gene conversion on nucleotide sequence composition, and a relationship between chromosomal characteristics and X chromosome inactivation. Comparison of opossum and eutherian genomes also reveals a sharp difference in evolutionary innovation between protein-coding and non-coding functional elements. True innovation in protein-coding genes seems to be relatively rare, with lineage-specific differences being largely due to diversification and rapid turnover in gene families involved in environmental interactions. In contrast, about 20% of eutherian conserved non-coding elements (CNEs) are recent inventions that postdate the divergence of Eutheria and Metatheria. A substantial proportion of these eutherian-specific CNEs arose from sequence inserted by transposable elements, pointing to transposons as a major creative force in the evolution of mammalian gene regulation.
Mikkelsen
Tarjei S
TS
Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard, 7 Cambridge Center, Cambridge, Massachusetts 02142, USA. kersli@broad.mit.edu
Wakefield
Matthew J
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Chris T
CT
Chang
Jean L
JL
Duke
Shannon
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Manuel
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Andrew J
AJ
Goodstadt
Leo
L
Heger
Andreas
A
Jurka
Jerzy
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Kamal
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Mauceli
Evan
E
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Stephen M J
SM
Sharpe
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Michelle L
ML
Batzer
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MA
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Panayiotis V
PV
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Katherine
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Clamp
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Cook
April
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Cuff
James
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Radhika
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Davidow
Lance
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Deakin
Janine E
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MJ
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Jacob L
JL
Grabherr
Manfred
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Greally
John M
JM
Gu
Wanjun
W
Hore
Timothy A
TA
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GA
Kleber
Michael
M
Jirtle
Randy L
RL
Koina
Edda
E
Lee
Jeannie T
JT
Mahony
Shaun
S
Marra
Marco A
MA
Miller
Robert D
RD
Nicholls
Robert D
RD
Oda
Mayumi
M
Papenfuss
Anthony T
AT
Parra
Zuly E
ZE
Pollock
David D
DD
Ray
David A
DA
Schein
Jacqueline E
JE
Speed
Terence P
TP
Thompson
Katherine
K
VandeBerg
John L
JL
Wade
Claire M
CM
Walker
Jerilyn A
JA
Waters
Paul D
PD
Webber
Caleb
C
Weidman
Jennifer R
JR
Xie
Xiaohui
X
Zody
Michael C
MC
Graves
Jennifer A Marshall
JA
Ponting
Chris P
CP
Breen
Matthew
M
Samollow
Paul B
PB
Lander
Eric S
ES
Lindblad-Toh
Kerstin
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D000818:Animals; D001482:Base Composition; D017124:Conserved Sequence / Q000235:genetics; D004251:DNA Transposable Elements / Q000235:genetics; D019143:Evolution, Molecular; D016678:Genome / Q000235:genetics*; D023281:Genomics; D006801:Humans; D009893:Opossums / Q000235:genetics*; D020641:Polymorphism, Single Nucleotide / Q000235:genetics; D014176:Protein Biosynthesis; D026801:Synteny / Q000235:genetics; D049951:X Chromosome Inactivation / Q000235:genetics
D004251:DNA Transposable Elements