title: High-throughput RNA sequencing reveals structural differences of orthologous brain-expressed genes between western lowland gorillas and humans.
abstract: The human brain and human cognitive abilities are strikingly different from those of other great apes despite relatively modest genome sequence divergence. However, little is presently known about the interspecies divergence in gene structure and transcription that might contribute to these phenotypic differences. To date, most comparative studies of gene structure in the brain have examined humans, chimpanzees, and macaque monkeys. To add to this body of knowledge, we analyze here the brain transcriptome of the western lowland gorilla (Gorilla gorilla gorilla), an African great ape species that is phylogenetically closely related to humans, but with a brain that is approximately one-third the size. Manual transcriptome curation from a sample of the planum temporale region of the neocortex revealed 12 protein-coding genes and one noncoding-RNA gene with exons in the gorilla unmatched by public transcriptome data from the orthologous human loci. These interspecies gene structure differences accounted for a total of 134 amino acids in proteins found in the gorilla that were absent from protein products of the orthologous human genes. Proteins varying in structure between human and gorilla were involved in immunity and energy metabolism, suggesting their relevance to phenotypic differences. This gorilla neocortical transcriptome comprises an empirical, not homology- or prediction-driven, resource for orthologous gene comparisons between human and gorilla. These findings provide a unique repository of the sequences and structures of thousands of genes transcribed in the gorilla brain, pointing to candidate genes that may contribute to the traits distinguishing humans from other closely related great apes.
authors.affiliation: Center for Molecular Medicine and Genetics, Wayne State University, Detroit, Michigan, 48201.|Department of Neurology, School of Medicine, Wayne State University, Detroit, Michigan, 48201.
authors.forename: Leonard
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Lipovich
authors.affiliation: Center for Molecular Medicine and Genetics, Wayne State University, Detroit, Michigan, 48201.|Department of Animal Genetics, China Agricultural University, Beijing, China.
authors.forename: Zhuo-Cheng
authors.initials: ZC
authors.lastname: Hou
authors.affiliation: Center for Molecular Medicine and Genetics, Wayne State University, Detroit, Michigan, 48201.
authors.forename: Hui
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Jia
authors.affiliation: Center for Molecular Medicine and Genetics, Wayne State University, Detroit, Michigan, 48201.
authors.forename: Christopher
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Sinkler
authors.affiliation: Center for Molecular Medicine and Genetics, Wayne State University, Detroit, Michigan, 48201.|School of Biological and Chemical Sciences, Queen Mary, University of London, London, United Kingdom.
authors.forename: Michael
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: McGowen
authors.affiliation: Department of Anthropology, University of Oregon, Eugene, Oregon, 97403.
authors.forename: Kirstin N
authors.initials: KN
authors.lastname: Sterner
authors.affiliation: Center for Molecular Medicine and Genetics, Wayne State University, Detroit, Michigan, 48201.|Carl R. Woese Institute for Genomic Biology, University of Illinois, Urbana, Illinois, 61801.|Department of Molecular and Integrative Physiology, University of Illinois, Urbana, Illinois, 61801.
authors.forename: Amy
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Weckle
authors.affiliation: Center for Molecular Medicine and Genetics, Wayne State University, Detroit, Michigan, 48201.
authors.forename: Amara B
authors.initials: AB
authors.lastname: Sugalski
authors.affiliation: Department of Physiology and Biophysics, Weill Cornell Medical College, New York, New York, 10021.
authors.forename: Lenore
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Pipes
authors.affiliation: Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, School of Medicine, Wayne State University, Detroit, Michigan, 48201.|Cardiovascular Research Institute, School of Medicine, Wayne State University, Detroit, Michigan, 48201.
authors.forename: Domenico L
authors.initials: DL
authors.lastname: Gatti
authors.affiliation: Department of Physiology and Biophysics, Weill Cornell Medical College, New York, New York, 10021.
authors.forename: Christopher E
authors.initials: CE
authors.lastname: Mason
authors.affiliation: Department of Anthropology and the Center for the Advanced Study of Human Paleobiology, The George Washington University, Washington, DC, 20052.
authors.forename: Chet C
authors.initials: CC
authors.lastname: Sherwood
authors.affiliation: Fishberg Department of Neuroscience and Friedman Brain Institute, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, New York, 10029.|New York Consortium in Evolutionary Primatology, New York, New York, 10024.
authors.forename: Patrick R
authors.initials: PR
authors.lastname: Hof
authors.affiliation: Department of Anthropology, Northwestern University, Evanston, Illinois, 60208.
authors.forename: Christopher W
authors.initials: CW
authors.lastname: Kuzawa
authors.affiliation: Center for Molecular Medicine and Genetics, Wayne State University, Detroit, Michigan, 48201.
authors.forename: Lawrence I
authors.initials: LI
authors.lastname: Grossman
authors.affiliation: Center for Molecular Medicine and Genetics, Wayne State University, Detroit, Michigan, 48201.|Department of Anatomy and Cell Biology, School of Medicine, Wayne State University, Detroit, Michigan, 48201.
authors.forename: Morris
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Goodman
authors.affiliation: Center for Molecular Medicine and Genetics, Wayne State University, Detroit, Michigan, 48201.|Carl R. Woese Institute for Genomic Biology, University of Illinois, Urbana, Illinois, 61801.|Department of Molecular and Integrative Physiology, University of Illinois, Urbana, Illinois, 61801.
authors.forename: Derek E
authors.initials: DE
authors.lastname: Wildman
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001921:Brain / Q000378:metabolism*; D002352:Carrier Proteins / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D015870:Gene Expression / Q000502:physiology*; D020869:Gene Expression Profiling; D006071:Gorilla gorilla / Q000033:anatomy & histology; D059014:High-Throughput Nucleotide Sequencing; D006801:Humans / Q000033:anatomy & histology; D047908:Intracellular Signaling Peptides and Proteins; D008958:Models, Molecular; D009124:Muscle Proteins / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D000071248:Peroxisome Proliferator-Activated Receptor Gamma Coactivator 1-alpha; D010749:Phosphoprotein Phosphatases / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D010802:Phylogeny; D012313:RNA / Q000378:metabolism*; D013045:Species Specificity; D014157:Transcription Factors / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D053482:beta 2-Glycoprotein I / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism
chemical_list: D002352:Carrier Proteins; D047908:Intracellular Signaling Peptides and Proteins; D009124:Muscle Proteins; C480236:OSTN protein, human; C486497:PPARGC1A protein, human; C491294:PPP1R3C protein, human; D000071248:Peroxisome Proliferator-Activated Receptor Gamma Coactivator 1-alpha; D014157:Transcription Factors; D053482:beta 2-Glycoprotein I; D012313:RNA; D010749:Phosphoprotein Phosphatases
keywords: BTBD8; alternative splicing; genomics; long noncoding RNA (lncRNA); planum temporale; protein structure