title: Cetaceans evolution: insights from the genome sequences of common minke whales.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Whales have captivated the human imagination for millennia. These incredible cetaceans are the only mammals that have adapted to life in the open oceans and have been a source of human food, fuel and tools around the globe. The transition from land to water has led to various aquatic specializations related to hairless skin and ability to regulate their body temperature in cold water.
  
  
  RESULTS
  We present four common minke whale (Balaenoptera acutorostrata) genomes with depth of ×13 ~ ×17 coverage and perform resequencing technology without a reference sequence. Our results indicated the time to the most recent common ancestors of common minke whales to be about 2.3574 (95% HPD, 1.1521 - 3.9212) million years ago. Further, we found that genes associated with epilation and tooth-development showed signatures of positive selection, supporting the morphological uniqueness of whales.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  This whole-genome sequencing offers a chance to better understand the evolutionary journey of one of the largest mammals on earth.
authors.affiliation: Biotechnology Research Division, National Fisheries Research & Development Institute, Gijang gun, Busan, 619-705, Republic of Korea. genome@korea.kr.
authors.forename: Jung Youn
authors.initials: JY
authors.lastname: Park
authors.affiliation: Cetacean Research Institute, National Fisheries Research & Development Institute, Nam-gu, Ulsan, 680-050, Republic of Korea. rock@korea.kr.
authors.forename: Yong-Rock
authors.initials: YR
authors.lastname: An
authors.affiliation: The Institute of Cetacean Research, Toyomi 4-5, Chuo-ku, Tokyo, 104-0055, Japan. kanda@cetacean.jp.
authors.forename: Naohisa
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Kanda
authors.affiliation: Biotechnology Research Division, National Fisheries Research & Development Institute, Gijang gun, Busan, 619-705, Republic of Korea. ancm@korea.kr.
authors.forename: Chul-Min
authors.initials: CM
authors.lastname: An
authors.affiliation: Biotechnology Research Division, National Fisheries Research & Development Institute, Gijang gun, Busan, 619-705, Republic of Korea. hsan97@korea.kr.
authors.forename: Hye Suck
authors.initials: HS
authors.lastname: An
authors.affiliation: Biotechnology Research Division, National Fisheries Research & Development Institute, Gijang gun, Busan, 619-705, Republic of Korea. genetics@korea.kr.
authors.forename: Jung-Ha
authors.initials: JH
authors.lastname: Kang
authors.affiliation: Biotechnology Research Division, National Fisheries Research & Development Institute, Gijang gun, Busan, 619-705, Republic of Korea. ocean0629@nfrdi.re.kr.
authors.forename: Eun Mi
authors.initials: EM
authors.lastname: Kim
authors.affiliation: Cetacean Research Institute, National Fisheries Research & Development Institute, Nam-gu, Ulsan, 680-050, Republic of Korea. dhan119@korea.kr.
authors.forename: Du-Hae
authors.initials: DH
authors.lastname: An
authors.affiliation: Codes division, Insilicogen,Inc., Suwon, Gyeonggi-do, 441-813, Republic of Korea. hjjung@insilicogen.com.
authors.forename: Hojin
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Jung
authors.affiliation: Codes division, Insilicogen,Inc., Suwon, Gyeonggi-do, 441-813, Republic of Korea. mhjung@insilicogen.com.
authors.forename: Myunghee
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Joung
authors.affiliation: TNT Research, #924 Doosan Venture Digm, Anyang, Gyeonggi-do, 431-755, Republic of Korea. pmh@tntresearch.co.kr.
authors.forename: Myung Hum
authors.initials: MH
authors.lastname: Park
authors.affiliation: Department of Agricultural Biotechnology, Seoul National University, Seoul, 151-921, Republic of Korea. yoonsh312@snu.ac.kr.
authors.forename: Sook Hee
authors.initials: SH
authors.lastname: Yoon
authors.affiliation: Department of Agricultural Biotechnology, Seoul National University, Seoul, 151-921, Republic of Korea. bylee613@snu.ac.kr.
authors.forename: Bo-Young
authors.initials: BY
authors.lastname: Lee
authors.affiliation: Department of Agricultural Biotechnology, Seoul National University, Seoul, 151-921, Republic of Korea. taeheon@snu.ac.kr.
authors.forename: Taeheon
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Lee
authors.affiliation: Interdisciplinary Program in Bioinformatics, Seoul National University, Seoul, 151-742, Republic of Korea. shkyuwon@gmail.com.
authors.forename: Kyu-Won
authors.initials: KW
authors.lastname: Kim
authors.affiliation: Department of Agricultural Biotechnology, Seoul National University, Seoul, 151-921, Republic of Korea. bbadack@snu.ac.kr.
authors.forename: Won Cheoul
authors.initials: WC
authors.lastname: Park
authors.affiliation: Department of Agricultural Biotechnology, Seoul National University, Seoul, 151-921, Republic of Korea. sdh1214@snu.ac.kr.
authors.forename: Dong Hyun
authors.initials: DH
authors.lastname: Shin
authors.affiliation: Interdisciplinary Program in Bioinformatics, Seoul National University, Seoul, 151-742, Republic of Korea. lcslys2@snu.ac.kr.
authors.forename: Young Sub
authors.initials: YS
authors.lastname: Lee
authors.affiliation: Interdisciplinary Program in Bioinformatics, Seoul National University, Seoul, 151-742, Republic of Korea. jmkim85@snu.ac.kr.|C&K Genomics, Seoul National University Research Park, Seoul, 151-919, Republic of Korea. jmkim85@snu.ac.kr.
authors.forename: Jaemin
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Kim
authors.affiliation: Interdisciplinary Program in Bioinformatics, Seoul National University, Seoul, 151-742, Republic of Korea. asleo02@snu.ac.kr.|C&K Genomics, Seoul National University Research Park, Seoul, 151-919, Republic of Korea. asleo02@snu.ac.kr.
authors.forename: Woori
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Kwak
authors.affiliation: C&K Genomics, Seoul National University Research Park, Seoul, 151-919, Republic of Korea. kimhj@cnkgenomics.com.
authors.forename: Hyeon Jeong
authors.initials: HJ
authors.lastname: Kim
authors.affiliation: Interdisciplinary Program in Bioinformatics, Seoul National University, Seoul, 151-742, Republic of Korea. youngjun0827@snu.ac.kr.
authors.forename: Young-Jun
authors.initials: YJ
authors.lastname: Kwon
authors.affiliation: Department of Genome Sciences, University of Washington, Seattle, WA, 98195-5065, USA. sunjin@uw.edu.
authors.forename: Sunjin
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Moon
authors.affiliation: Department of Life Science, Ewha Womans University, Seoul, Korea. yuseob@ewha.ac.kr.
authors.forename: Yuseob
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Kim
authors.affiliation: The Roslin Institute, University of Edinburgh, Midlothian, EH25 9GR, UK. dave.burt@roslin.ed.ac.uk.
authors.forename: David W
authors.initials: DW
authors.lastname: Burt
authors.affiliation: C&K Genomics, Seoul National University Research Park, Seoul, 151-919, Republic of Korea. seoae@cnkgenomics.com.
authors.forename: Seoae
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Cho
authors.affiliation: Department of Agricultural Biotechnology, Seoul National University, Seoul, 151-921, Republic of Korea. heebal@snu.ac.kr.|Interdisciplinary Program in Bioinformatics, Seoul National University, Seoul, 151-742, Republic of Korea. heebal@snu.ac.kr.|C&K Genomics, Seoul National University Research Park, Seoul, 151-919, Republic of Korea. heebal@snu.ac.kr.
authors.forename: Heebal
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authors.lastname: Kim
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001499:Bayes Theorem; D005075:Biological Evolution; D004289:Dolphins / Q000145:classification / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D016678:Genome; D059014:High-Throughput Nucleotide Sequencing; D050636:Minke Whale / Q000145:classification* / Q000235:genetics* / Q000378:metabolism; D010802:Phylogeny; D017422:Sequence Analysis, DNA