title: Insights into hominid evolution from the gorilla genome sequence.
abstract: Gorillas are humans' closest living relatives after chimpanzees, and are of comparable importance for the study of human origins and evolution. Here we present the assembly and analysis of a genome sequence for the western lowland gorilla, and compare the whole genomes of all extant great ape genera. We propose a synthesis of genetic and fossil evidence consistent with placing the human-chimpanzee and human-chimpanzee-gorilla speciation events at approximately 6 and 10 million years ago. In 30% of the genome, gorilla is closer to human or chimpanzee than the latter are to each other; this is rarer around coding genes, indicating pervasive selection throughout great ape evolution, and has functional consequences in gene expression. A comparison of protein coding genes reveals approximately 500 genes showing accelerated evolution on each of the gorilla, human and chimpanzee lineages, and evidence for parallel acceleration, particularly of genes involved in hearing. We also compare the western and eastern gorilla species, estimating an average sequence divergence time 1.75 million years ago, but with evidence for more recent genetic exchange and a population bottleneck in the eastern species. The use of the genome sequence in these and future analyses will promote a deeper understanding of great ape biology and evolution.
authors.affiliation: Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute, Wellcome Trust Genome Campus, Hinxton CB10 1SA, UK.
authors.forename: Aylwyn
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authors.lastname: Scally
authors.forename: Julien Y
authors.initials: JY
authors.lastname: Dutheil
authors.forename: LaDeana W
authors.initials: LW
authors.lastname: Hillier
authors.forename: Gregory E
authors.initials: GE
authors.lastname: Jordan
authors.forename: Ian
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Goodhead
authors.forename: Javier
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Herrero
authors.forename: Asger
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authors.lastname: Hobolth
authors.forename: Tuuli
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authors.forename: Thomas
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authors.lastname: Mailund
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authors.lastname: Marques-Bonet
authors.forename: Shane
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authors.lastname: McCarthy
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authors.initials: SH
authors.lastname: Montgomery
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authors.lastname: Schwalie
authors.forename: Y Amy
authors.initials: YA
authors.lastname: Tang
authors.forename: Michelle C
authors.initials: MC
authors.lastname: Ward
authors.forename: Yali
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Xue
authors.forename: Bryndis
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Yngvadottir
authors.forename: Can
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Alkan
authors.forename: Lars N
authors.initials: LN
authors.lastname: Andersen
authors.forename: Qasim
authors.initials: Q
authors.lastname: Ayub
authors.forename: Edward V
authors.initials: EV
authors.lastname: Ball
authors.forename: Kathryn
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Beal
authors.forename: Brenda J
authors.initials: BJ
authors.lastname: Bradley
authors.forename: Yuan
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.forename: Chris M
authors.initials: CM
authors.lastname: Clee
authors.forename: Stephen
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Fitzgerald
authors.forename: Tina A
authors.initials: TA
authors.lastname: Graves
authors.forename: Yong
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Gu
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authors.lastname: Heath
authors.forename: Andreas
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Heger
authors.forename: Emre
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Karakoc
authors.forename: Anja
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Kolb-Kokocinski
authors.forename: Gavin K
authors.initials: GK
authors.lastname: Laird
authors.forename: Gerton
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Lunter
authors.forename: Stephen
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Meader
authors.forename: Matthew
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Mort
authors.forename: James C
authors.initials: JC
authors.lastname: Mullikin
authors.forename: Kasper
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Munch
authors.forename: Timothy D
authors.initials: TD
authors.lastname: O'Connor
authors.forename: Andrew D
authors.initials: AD
authors.lastname: Phillips
authors.forename: Javier
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Prado-Martinez
authors.forename: Anthony S
authors.initials: AS
authors.lastname: Rogers
authors.forename: Saba
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Sajjadian
authors.forename: Dominic
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Schmidt
authors.forename: Katy
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Shaw
authors.forename: Jared T
authors.initials: JT
authors.lastname: Simpson
authors.forename: Peter D
authors.initials: PD
authors.lastname: Stenson
authors.forename: Daniel J
authors.initials: DJ
authors.lastname: Turner
authors.forename: Linda
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Vigilant
authors.forename: Albert J
authors.initials: AJ
authors.lastname: Vilella
authors.forename: Weldon
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Whitener
authors.forename: Baoli
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Zhu
authors.forename: David N
authors.initials: DN
authors.lastname: Cooper
authors.forename: Pieter
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: de Jong
authors.forename: Emmanouil T
authors.initials: ET
authors.lastname: Dermitzakis
authors.forename: Evan E
authors.initials: EE
authors.lastname: Eichler
authors.forename: Paul
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Flicek
authors.forename: Nick
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Goldman
authors.forename: Nicholas I
authors.initials: NI
authors.lastname: Mundy
authors.forename: Zemin
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Ning
authors.forename: Duncan T
authors.initials: DT
authors.lastname: Odom
authors.forename: Chris P
authors.initials: CP
authors.lastname: Ponting
authors.forename: Michael A
authors.initials: MA
authors.lastname: Quail
authors.forename: Oliver A
authors.initials: OA
authors.lastname: Ryder
authors.forename: Stephen M
authors.initials: SM
authors.lastname: Searle
authors.forename: Wesley C
authors.initials: WC
authors.lastname: Warren
authors.forename: Richard K
authors.initials: RK
authors.lastname: Wilson
authors.forename: Mikkel H
authors.initials: MH
authors.lastname: Schierup
authors.forename: Jane
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Rogers
authors.forename: Chris
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Tyler-Smith
authors.forename: Richard
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Durbin
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D019143:Evolution, Molecular; D005260:Female; D005786:Gene Expression Regulation; D049810:Genetic Speciation; D014644:Genetic Variation / Q000235:genetics; D016678:Genome / Q000235:genetics*; D023281:Genomics; D006071:Gorilla gorilla / Q000235:genetics*; D006801:Humans; D008253:Macaca mulatta / Q000235:genetics; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D002679:Pan troglodytes / Q000235:genetics; D010802:Phylogeny; D057079:Pongo / Q000235:genetics; D011506:Proteins / Q000235:genetics; D016415:Sequence Alignment; D013045:Species Specificity; D014158:Transcription, Genetic
chemical_list: D011506:Proteins